Comment by siliconc0w
Comment by siliconc0w 13 hours ago
I wonder if this has implications for geo-engineering projects that want to inject sulfur into the atmosphere. More lightning seems like a problematic side effect.
Comment by siliconc0w 13 hours ago
I wonder if this has implications for geo-engineering projects that want to inject sulfur into the atmosphere. More lightning seems like a problematic side effect.
There's all kinds of weather events in the upper atmosphere, including lightning-like. They're mostly understudied from difficulty in studying them, not because they don't exist.
Doesn't lightning help make ozone? And lightining does help make hydroxyl ions, which help convert airisol methane.
Aren't there some wild power generation ideas of harvesting lightning?
Average power output from lightning is terrible, but the spikes are pretty amazing.
I think there is only one spot in the planet that gets enough regular lightning to maybe be worth something (a random place in Venezuela, oddly), otherwise it isn’t worth the Capital.
AIUI those plans typically involve injecting e.g. sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere specifically, not the atmosphere as a whole. Lightning can sometimes occur that high, but it's definitely not the norm.