JMU researchers: Air pollution increases thunderstorm danger

Newswise — HARRISONBURG, Va. — Air pollution is increasing the severity of summertime thunderstorms, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at James Madison University and published in the journal Atmospheric Research.   

JMU geography professor Mace Bentley, the lead author of the study, says, "Pollution acts as cloud nuclei. It gets brought into the cloud through the updraft; the updraft and downdraft then separate the pollution particles, which divides the electrical charges in the cloud and leads to more lightning production.”    

The three-year study, funded by the National Science Foundation, examined nearly 200,000 thunderstorms in the Washington, D.C., area and more than 300,000 in the Kansas City area.     

Using 12 years of lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network and data from hundreds of air pollution stations in the two cities, the researchers were able to determine that in environments with high instability, adding more pollution increases cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, Bentley said.     

Bentley is doing similar research on Bangkok, a megacity with more pollution than Washington, D.C., and Kansas City and located in a hot, tropical climate. His results so far are similar, albeit with lightning rates even higher in those storms.     

“It looks like no matter where you go in the world, urban pollution is capable of enhancing thunderstorms and lightning,” he said.     

Research highlights are available here.     

Bentley can provide copies of the research paper at no cost.   

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Biography :

Bentley is a geographer who has teaching and research interests in weather-societal interactions and critical physical geography. This interdisciplinary research examines issues surrounding human-land-atmosphere interactions and works to untangle their complex, critical relationships.

Given the breadth of subjects found under the umbrella of geography, Bentley enjoys teaching a wide range of courses from climate change to understanding human cognition and environmental perception through film.

Bentley has plenty of media experience, having been a forecast meteorologist at The Weather Channel in Atlanta.

Bentley has a doctorate in geography from the University of Georgia, a master's degree in geography from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and bachelors degrees in geography and mathematics from Northern Kentucky University.