Riders on the Storm: Does car exhaust contribute to lightning strikes?

[Haltech]

Filed under: Etc., Green, Tech



You can add another life-killing phenomenon to the list of deadly byproducts attributable to cars: increased lightning strikes. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that in the southeastern U.S. from 1998-2008, there was 25% more lightning during the work week than on the weekend.

This follows from research by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center that found rainfall in that same area of the country rose during the week. The suspected culprit is automobile pollution, which is causing more storms during the week and increasing the severity of storms. That pollution, and the humid air in the southeast, makes for more clouds to rise and create more conditions for lightning strikes. It's just another step closer to the apocalypse, and we don't doubt that they'll soon be telling us cars cause cancer. Oh, wait... Thanks for the tip, Corey!

[Source: Scientific American via The College Driver]Riders on the Storm: Does car exhaust contribute to lightning strikes? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments




More...