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Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties

The divergence of total alkalinity (TA) from conservation with salinity (S) and relatively acidic conditions (pH) in surface seawater was suggested to explain the high prevalence of lightning superbolts in the Mediterranean sea, North sea and upwelling regions of the oceans. In this study we tested...

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Autores principales: Asfur, Mustafa, Price, Colin, Yair, Yoav, Silverman, Jacob
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10085976/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37037862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33115-0
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author Asfur, Mustafa
Price, Colin
Yair, Yoav
Silverman, Jacob
author_facet Asfur, Mustafa
Price, Colin
Yair, Yoav
Silverman, Jacob
author_sort Asfur, Mustafa
collection PubMed
description The divergence of total alkalinity (TA) from conservation with salinity (S) and relatively acidic conditions (pH) in surface seawater was suggested to explain the high prevalence of lightning superbolts in the Mediterranean sea, North sea and upwelling regions of the oceans. In this study we tested the combined effects of changes in S, TA and pH of Mediterranean sea surface water on the intensity of laboratory generated electrical sparks, which are considered to be analogous to cloud to sea-surface intensity of lightning discharges. The experimental results were used to develop a multivariate linear equation (MLE) of Lightning Flash Intensity (LFI) as a function of S, TA/S and pH. This relation was validated with wintertime (DJF) LFI measurements along a Mediterranean sea zonal profile during the period 2009–2020 compared to corresponding climate model outputs of S, TA and pH. Based on the resulting MLE, the combined effects of climate change, ocean acidification and the damming of the Nile, may have increased LFI in the Levantine Sea by 16 ± 14% until now relative to the pre-Aswan Dam period. Furthermore, assuming that salinization and acidification of the Levantine Sea will continue at current trends, the LFI is predicted to increase by 25 ± 13% by the year 2050.
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spelling pubmed-100859762023-04-12 Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties Asfur, Mustafa Price, Colin Yair, Yoav Silverman, Jacob Sci Rep Article The divergence of total alkalinity (TA) from conservation with salinity (S) and relatively acidic conditions (pH) in surface seawater was suggested to explain the high prevalence of lightning superbolts in the Mediterranean sea, North sea and upwelling regions of the oceans. In this study we tested the combined effects of changes in S, TA and pH of Mediterranean sea surface water on the intensity of laboratory generated electrical sparks, which are considered to be analogous to cloud to sea-surface intensity of lightning discharges. The experimental results were used to develop a multivariate linear equation (MLE) of Lightning Flash Intensity (LFI) as a function of S, TA/S and pH. This relation was validated with wintertime (DJF) LFI measurements along a Mediterranean sea zonal profile during the period 2009–2020 compared to corresponding climate model outputs of S, TA and pH. Based on the resulting MLE, the combined effects of climate change, ocean acidification and the damming of the Nile, may have increased LFI in the Levantine Sea by 16 ± 14% until now relative to the pre-Aswan Dam period. Furthermore, assuming that salinization and acidification of the Levantine Sea will continue at current trends, the LFI is predicted to increase by 25 ± 13% by the year 2050. Nature Publishing Group UK 2023-04-10 /pmc/articles/PMC10085976/ /pubmed/37037862 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33115-0 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Asfur, Mustafa
Price, Colin
Yair, Yoav
Silverman, Jacob
Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
title Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
title_full Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
title_fullStr Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
title_full_unstemmed Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
title_short Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
title_sort spatial variability of lightning intensity over the mediterranean sea correlates with seawater properties
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10085976/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37037862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33115-0
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