Editing Lightning (section)

=== Lightning and climate change feedbacks ===
As lightning is influenced by climate change, there is a corresponding change to the lightning’s influence on climate. These changes can lead to further climate change, thus creating a [[Climate change feedbacks|climate change feedback]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Nancy |last2=Munroe |first2=Thailynn |last3=Levin |first3=Kelly |date=16 September 2020 |title=6 Graphics Explain the Climate Feedback Loop Fueling US Fires |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/6-graphics-explain-climate-feedback-loop-fueling-us-fires |website=World Resources Institute}}</ref>

Lightning leads to the production of [[Ground-level ozone|tropospheric ozone]] and destruction of methane, both greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Therefore, the net impact of lightning on climate depends on the balance between this warming and cooling effect of the gases' effects on atmospheric chemistry. Predictions of this feedback can vary, resulting in either no change (net zero feedback), or a warming effect (positive feedback), depending on the method used to predict lightning.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Finney |first1=Declan L. |last2=Doherty |first2=Ruth M. |last3=Wild |first3=Oliver |last4=Stevenson |first4=David S. |last5=MacKenzie |first5=Ian A. |last6=Blyth |first6=Alan M. |date=12 February 2018 |title=A projected decrease in lightning under climate change |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0072-6 |journal=Nature Climate Change |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=210–213 |doi=10.1038/s41558-018-0072-6 |bibcode=2018NatCC...8..210F |issn=1758-6798}}</ref>

Lightning is the major natural cause of [[wildfire]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Yang |last2=Xu |first2=Cangsu |last3=Li |first3=Xiaolu |last4=Oppong |first4=Francis |date=2 March 2024 |title=Lightning-Induced Wildfires: An Overview |journal=Fire |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=79 |doi=10.3390/fire7030079 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024Fire....7...79S |issn=2571-6255}}</ref> estimated to cause 10% of forest fires worldwide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Malamud |first1=Bruce D. |last2=Millington |first2=James D. A. |last3=Perry |first3=George L. W. |date=2005-03-21 |title=Characterizing wildfire regimes in the United States |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=102 |issue=13 |pages=4694–4699 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0500880102 |doi-access=free |pmid=15781868 |pmc=555719 |bibcode=2005PNAS..102.4694M |issn=0027-8424}}</ref> Wildfire can contribute to climate change.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-wildfires |title=Climate Change Indicators: Wildfires, US EPA |date=July 2016 |accessdate=July 6, 2023}}</ref> Because wildfires emit greenhouse gases, and also affect vegetation cover (which affects how much sunlight is reflected), a lightning-wildfire feedback is possible. Multiple studies suggest there could be an increase in [[Taiga|Boreal]] and Arctic lightning-ignited fires in response to climate change.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Janssen |first1=Thomas A. J. |last2=Jones |first2=Matthew W. |last3=Finney |first3=Declan |last4=van der Werf |first4=Guido R. |last5=van Wees |first5=Dave |last6=Xu |first6=Wenxuan |last7=Veraverbeke |first7=Sander |date=9 November 2023 |title=Extratropical forests increasingly at risk due to lightning fires |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01322-z |journal=Nature Geoscience |language=en |volume=16 |issue=12 |pages=1136–1144 |doi=10.1038/s41561-023-01322-z |bibcode=2023NatGe..16.1136J |issn=1752-0908}}</ref> There is evidence that arctic lightning wildfire feedback may also influence vegetation and [[permafrost]] cover.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> The impact of lightning on fires in the [[tropics]] remains uncertain.<ref name=":5" />