Nationalgeographic.co.id—The adage that something too much is not good is suitable for describing the current situation that worries scientists. In Arctic, the Arctic region of planet Earth in 2021 there will be a drastic spike in unusual natural phenomena as a result of climate change.
Reported from The Guardian, the North Pole is a place where lightning is rarely seen, this is because the air in that region does not have enough convective heat to create lightning. However, the northernmost region of the Earth experiences 7,278 lightning strike last year or nearly double the total number of lightning sightings in the previous nine years.
The findings, published by Vaisala, a Finnish company that specializes in measuring natural phenomena, have made scientists like Chris Vagasky worried. “Over the past 10 years, the total number of lightning bolts north of the Circle Arctic fairly consistent, but at the highest latitude of the planet, 80° north, the increase is drastic. Such a significant increase is certainly cause for concern,” said Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist.
Lightning tracking in the region has become an important indicator of climate change as temperatures are increasing at the Arctic three times faster than anywhere else on the planet. The three factors necessary for lightning and thunderstorms to occur are humidity, instability and lift.
Melting ice in the sea Arctic produce more water which can evaporate and add moisture to the atmosphere. Rising temperatures and the instability of the atmosphere create the perfect environment for lightning to occur. Therefore, monitoring or tracking how these natural phenomena change in the Arctic over time, can reveal a lot about changes in the atmosphere in response to climate change.
“A change in the weather in the Arctic could mean a change in the weather where you are. All weather is local, but what happens where you are now depends on how the atmosphere behaves elsewhere around the world. “Changes in conditions in the Arctic could lead to more extreme winters, more heat waves or extreme changes in rainfall to continental Europe,” said Vagasky.
Last summer there were big forest fires in Europe and North America, at least part of the cause of those forest fires was lightning strike. Usually less than 15 percent of forest fires are triggered by lightning, but forest fires caused by lightning burn a wider area of forest than forest fires caused by human activities.
The risk of being struck by lightning in the Arctic remains low, but an increase in lightning occurrences could threaten communities that have not previously been exposed to danger from lightning strike. People who live in the tundra or who are on ships are especially vulnerable to lightning strike. Lightning also poses a risk of damaging electrical infrastructure and other equipment.
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The United States is the country with the second-highest number of lightning strikes in the world after Brazil in 2021. Vagasky and fellow researchers tracked more than 194 million incidents or 24 million more than they tracked in 2020. A 2014 study estimates that there will be a 12 percent increase in the frequency of lightning strikes for every one degree Celsius increase in temperature.
“Climate change could increase the potential for lightning-triggered wildfires. Scientists cannot link lightning strikes from one day to our climate change, but monitoring lightning trends in the Arctic is very important and something that needs to be studied now and in the future.” Vagasky.
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