Global warming will significantly increase the frequency of lightning strikes, according to US research.
The research, published in Science, was carried out with the help of data from a US network of lightning detectors.
The teams says they have calculated how much each extra degree in temperature will raise the frequency of lightning.
“For every two lightning strikes in 2000, there will be three lightning strikes in 2100,” said David Romps, at the University of California, Berkeley.
As well as triggering more wild fires, he said, this would alter the chemistry of the atmosphere.
The team’s work reveals a new method of working out the relationship between temperature and lightning storms, by estimating the heat energy available to “fuel” storm clouds.
“As the planet warms, there will be more of this fuel around, so when thunderstorms get triggered, they will be more energetic,” said Prof Romps.
