13 Unexpected Benefits of Lightning: The 7th Will Astonish Scientists

4. Atmospheric Cleansing

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As a natural air cleaner, lightning greatly helps to cleanse our atmosphere in hitherto unexpected and useful ways. Strong updrafts and downdrafts are produced when lightning strikes rapidly heating and cooling of the surrounding air. These air currents together with lightning's electrical charges help to efficiently remove particulate debris and contaminants from the environment. Ionising air molecules ionise pollutants, which then attract and bind to one another, so neutralising them or causing them to descend with precipitation. Particularly useful in eliminating aerosols, dust particles, and some forms of air pollution potentially detrimental to human health and the environment is this natural cleansing mechanism. Furthermore, methane, a strong greenhouse gas, breaks down in the atmosphere in part by the nitrogen oxides generated by lightning. Although nitrogen oxides produced by humans are usually regarded as pollutants, those produced by lightning happen at higher altitudes where they can be advantageous. In tropical areas, where thunderstorms are frequent and strong, this atmospheric cleansing action of lightning is particularly remarkable. Lightning's cleansing effect serves to reduce some of the consequences of human-generated air pollution and supports the general quality of the air we breathe. Knowing this advantage of lightning has motivated studies on artificial ionisation technologies for air purification, therefore proving how nature's processes could guide and enhance human environmental technologies.