Lightning Increases the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice

Lightning storms increase sea ice retreat in the Arctic Ocean, a new study has found.

The study, conducted by a team of international researchers, discovered that these storms are contributing to the problem, along with global warming, Newsweek reports.

The loss of sea ice is mainly attributed to the warming of the climate due to the absorption of human-made greenhouse gases by the atmosphere.

Lightning storms used to be extremely rare in the Arctic due to the cold climate. However, global warming has made them more common in the summer. According to the authors, these storms "further increase the melting process of the ice sheets - in a feedback loop."

"As a result of this, and of global warming in general, we expect the frequency of lightning storms in the Arctic region to increase in the coming years, and with it, the rate of sea ice retreat in the Arctic Ocean to accelerate", says the researchers.

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