Lightning strikes may trigger short-term thinning in the ozone layer

Phys.org  October 11, 2021
An international team of researchers (USA – University of Colorado, Finland) used detailed computer simulations to follow what happened in the atmosphere after Hurricane Patricia that struck Texas and Mexico in 2015 and had more than 33,000 lightning strikes over the span of just two-and-a-half hours, the May 1917 storm in the Caribbean, and the 2013 storm over Nebraska. As the storms progressed, the electron energy raining down to Earth began to react with gasses high in Earth’s atmosphere, concentrations of certain molecules in the air, including hydrogen oxides and nitrogen oxides, shot up almost at once. Nitrogen oxides increased by as much as 150%. According to the researchers these gasses may mix deeper into the atmosphere, eventually reaching the ozone layer. The increase in nitrogen oxides can last for 24 hour or more and will slowly descend in altitude where they can destroy ozone. The team doesn’t expect that destruction to spread far away from the area just above the storm, creating a short-lived thin patch in the ozone layer. The next step is to say what’s the global, cumulative effect of lighting on the upper atmosphere…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

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