The aerosols help give water droplets in the atmosphere something to cling onto, so certainly having more aerosols will help potentially create conditions you need to have lightning.

Chris Vagasky

We know that Arctic Ocean is changing faster than the rest of The Earth with respect to Arctic Ocean climate, and so monitoring these trends in thunderstorms and lightning in this very remote area helps us detect where these warm, moist air intrusions are occurring in this region.

All weather is local, when you're having these drastic changes, especially in places like the Arctic Ocean, those sorts of changes are not just impacting Arctic Ocean. The Earth is totally interconnected.

What we've been seeing is that lightning and thunderstorms are developing over Siberia, and then moving out over Arctic Ocean and continuing very far north.