Lightning's 'NOx-ious' Impact On Pollution, Climate
Friday, November 6, 2009 - 00:29
in Earth & Climate
More than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world every year. Each of those billion lightning flashes produces a puff of nitrogen oxide gas (NOx) that reacts with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere to produce ozone. Using data gleaned from aircraft observations and satellites, NASA scientists recently took steps toward a better global estimate of lightning-produced NOx and found that lightning may have a considerably stronger impact on the climate in the mid-latitudes and subtropics.