Decreased air pollution from pandemic response reduced lightning strikes

I noted that Coronavirus response was reducing air pollution in April 2020 and reiterated that observation in The effect of the pandemic on the environment for World Environment Day and Stephen Colbert interviews Greta Thunberg about climate change and coronavirus in June and July two years ago. SciShow examined one of the unexpected results of that in How Covid is Helping Us Study Lightning.

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t just affected us. It’s also affected the weather. And this turns out to be a lucky natural experiment to help us understand how much we influence the world around us.

In addition to being a good explanation of how one weather phenomenon works, it's an even better example of two of Commoner's Laws: There is no away and especially everything is connected to everything else. I also can use it as an example of a natural experiment for my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.