#Or like a huge anvil lightning strike

[mintytrifecta]

I've been thinking so hard about TLEs and strange weather phenomenon and combining it with my ninjago brainrot I'm thinking so hard about Jay's lightning and everything he could potentially do with it

[sciencespies]

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

https://sciencespies.com/environment/lightning-has-powerful-air-cleaning-properties-surprising-analysis-reveals/

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

Lightning could be a much more important atmospheric cleanser than previously thought, according to a new analysis of historical measurements gathered from a storm-chasing airplane back in 2012 – data which were originally thought to be inaccurate.

While some of the air-scrubbing qualities of lightning bolts are already well understood – in particular the creation of nitric oxide and hydroxide that can flush out various greenhouse gases from the sky – there’s a lot more going on here, according to the new research.

It appears that both lightning bolts and the weaker, invisible electrical charges around them can produce the pollutant-catching oxidants hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxyl (HO2), which can also remove gases such as methane and carbon monoxide from the atmosphere.

“Initially, we looked at these huge OH and HO2 signals found in the clouds and asked, what is wrong with our instrument?” says meteorologist William Brune, from Penn State University.

“We assumed there was noise in the instrument, so we removed the huge signals from the dataset and shelved them for later study.”

These 2012 readings were taken from a NASA plane flying over Colorado and Oklahoma, measuring the anvil (or top portion) of storm clouds. The recent analysis, plus data gathered on the ground at the same time, showed that the lightning was indeed producing these high levels of oxidants.

Classic shape of an anvil cloud. (Hussein Kefel/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A series of lab simulations backed up the idea that both visible lightning and invisible electrical charges in the air could produce extreme amounts of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals. However, in the air they detected little to no additional nitric oxide and ozone produced from the type of lightning you can actually see in the sky, and lab results were uncertain on these molecules too.

It’s worth bearing in mind that most lightning bolts never strike the ground, but are nevertheless setting off a multitude of chemical reactions in the clouds.

At the moment, the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl produced by lightning isn’t included in atmospheric modeling – an omission that could be significant.

“Through history, people were only interested in lightning bolts because of what they could do on the ground,” says Brune. “Now there is increasing interest in the weaker electrical discharges in thunderstorms that lead to lightning bolts.”

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the data, the researchers admit – mostly because their data is from a small part of the world over a limited time frame – but they estimate that between 2-16 percent of global atmospheric oxidation could be caused by lightning storms.

As the planet gets warmer, thunderstorms and lightning strikes are likely to become more common, which will in turn affect the balance of greenhouse gases in the air – perhaps much more than scientists had thought up to this point.

Now that we know more about what’s happening, the next stage in the research will be to take measurements of these effects in places that aren’t Oklahoma and Colorado – and it sounds likely there’s plenty more to discover.

“Most thunderstorms are in the tropics,” says Brune. “The whole structure of high plains storms is different than those in the tropics. Clearly we need more aircraft measurements to reduce this uncertainty.”

The research has been published in Science and the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

#Environment

[bugcthulhu]

Spanish/Iberian mythical creatures: Lots of Bogeymen and other weirdos edition

Calzadilla Lizard: A crocodile-like beast that went around slaughtering entire flocks of sheep until a shepherd killed it by shooting its open throat with a magical shotgun. Its spirit cursed the shotgun to break on the spot so that it would never slay anything again

Patinga: A newt/salamander that is not only intensely poisonous but makes parts of one’s body disappear just by touching them

Lusitanian Dragon: Ocean-dwelling and snake-like, with green scales. A heraldric beast associated with Trebaruna, a pre-celtic goddess of home, battle, death and water currents

Machu Lanu: A bulky, shaggy, bipedal goat with enormous horns and a deformed human face. Can speak, but its voice is terrifyingly loud. 

Tiznau: Though considered a kind of goblin, it is gigantic in size, with black skin and clothes. Bad-tempered, controls the weather

Oiulari: Unseen being that announces its presence with a distant bellow. Answering back typically earns death by huge rock thrown at your direction. Leaves ten-fingered handprints on what it touches

 Deminyo: Small servile demon created by injecting a drop of blood on an egg laid by a black hen, then incubating the egg in a pile of dung. Causes terrible maladies by entering people’s bodies. Independent ones are known as “Demachinyos” and far more dangerous. Only a skilled witch can hope to control them

 Long-Teats Dog: Exactly what it sounds like. This obscene female canine appears at night and is considered an omen of death. Can imitate the sounds of other animals and transform into either crow or a wool yarn. Splits in two or three if struck.

 Ahari: A cave ram. Noted as being servants of Mari, (goddess of earth and consort of the evil dragon god Sugaar), who takes naps on their woolly bodies as pillows and spins with their horns

 Peeira: Feral nymphs that protect, live with, and usually lead packs of wolves. Sometimes said to have the power to cure lycanthropy

 Lehen: Benevolent sea serpent that guides lost sailors

 Etsai: Dragon of devilish disposition that teached science, arts and letters to whoever came to him, with the “payment” that at least one disciple would have to stay in his cave and serve him forever. Under him studied Atarrabi and Mikelatz, the rival sons of Mari and Sugaar

 Akerbeltz: A protector of animals that appears as a male black goat, kind-hearted despite his sinister appearance and possessing healing powers. The arrival of christianism lumped him with the devil and witch covens.

 Maruxaina: A sea nymph/mermaid with luminous eyes. Some tales have her as helpful and warning about incoming storms, but oftentimes she’s malicious, luring sailors towards her death. Her charming ability is such she can make raging whirlpools appear to her victims as calm waters.

 Mulachini Del Cielu: Baby-like beings with only one eye that play in storm clouds and throw lightning bolts

 Camunyes:  Extremely frightful, enormous and filthy bogeyman with shiny eyes, long skeletal claws and huge sharp teeth to gnaw bones with. Partly based on the popular figure of a guerrilla that terrorized French soldiers to avenge the unfair death of his brother.

 Carlanco: Hissing, nondescript goat-eating monster that appears in some fairy tales of Spain and Brazil in a similar vein to the Big Bad Wolf. Claims to have enough strength to tear apart mountains, but tends to be rather ineffective and easily thwarted.

 Jampon: Goblin that sneaks inside houses and eats all the food within

 Traganarru: Sea dragon with power over storms and waterspouts, sinks ships and devours whoever approaches the coast.

 Llufa: Wind spirit/fairy, invisible and silent. Stalks those they perceive as naïve to prank them and laugh at them

 Maru: Subterranean humanoids with two horns that kidnap people and cattle close to their domain

 Pericó: Tiny spirit associated with metal that grows into a giant of solid iron when exposed to fire, smashing all in its wake. Blacksmiths strike their anvils three times before work in order to keep it at bay

  Simanya: Female bogeyman of monstrous appearance and boundless appetite for human flesh, their lairs bursting with the bones of past victims. Frequent mountainous areas traditionally held as belonging to ogres

 Black Bubota: A ghost that takes the form of a black doll to frighten children

 Rabeno: Tall, thin humanoid with pale skin and a short tail. Though it watches over animals, it is a lascivious being that wanders towns to abduct women. Believed to spread leprosy and other severe skin diseases

 Trastolillo: A particularly restless goblin with horns and black fur, making a nuisance of itself on nearby houses and constantly snickering. Particularly fond of making terrible moans at night, startling families awake. Loves milk and might be bribed with it, but it’s just as likely to steal it.

 Manlleu Serpent: A huge snake sporting a hairy mane and a large diamond on its head. Slain by a child that stole the diamond while it was distracted and hid it in a mortar; Trying to get it back, the snake constricted the mortar over and over until it died of exhaustion

 Urco: A large dog with horns, long ears and clad in chains. Emerges from the sea at night, howling furiously.

 Tinyosa: A beautiful, transparent woman that appears in densely fogged areas. A child eater that “sucks” on prey until she eventually swallows it whole

 Aborteiro: Tiny insect that enters the bodies of pregnant women and does exactly what you think it does

 Grunyu: A dark, demonic beast with a guttural voice. Lives in caves by day, roams the forests at night. Hard to see, but if anyone walks past it they will be cursed on the spot and their personality will change for the worse

 Eate: Entity that embodies fire, floods and hurricanes. Incredibly destructive and merciless, but sometimes its fury can be directed by someone holding “rainbow grass”

 Fumera: Bogeyman with seven eyes (4 front, 3 in the back of the head) that appears on Christmas and keeps watch on children, taking away those that succumb to gluttony

 Cul Pelat: Ferocious being that appears in days of strong wind, using it to hide its presence and kidnap children. For some reason its name translates to “Shaved Butt”

 Pollastre: A bogeyman in the form of a foul-tempered rooster that eats the legs off naughty children

 Bofarull: Small demon/goblin that appears within and controls whirlwinds

 Maridillo: “Little hubby”. A multi-colored toad, either velvety in texture or actually wearing small clothes, given to witches as a familiar. Constantly demands food, but also vomits a stinking, black-green liquid useful for poisons and spells

 Cuine: Red-and-white gnomes that live in trees or burrows in fields, watching over children. Rather than talk, they either whistle melodiously or squeal like piglets

 Cazamentides: A really tall bogeyman with iron arms and hooks for fingers. Knows when children have told a lie, and snatches them by the dozen to eat them at sea.

 Currucuca: A bogeyman best described as a disgusting mound of hair. So hairy, in fact, it keeps tripping over itself

 Momerota: Beast between bull and horse that launches fireworks from its horns. Chases after people, but is in turn killed for its wine-like blood.

 En Micó: A spirit of brine that turns everything it touches into salt, living beings included

 Bilbiana: Half-woman, half-otter bogeyman. Takes beating her with wooden clubs to drive her away.

 Ceocrobol: Strange beings described as riding enormous birds covered in grass that they feed upon, and thus rarely touch the ground

 Goja:  Water nymphs sometimes shown with dragonfly wings. Their ethereal clothes grant good luck and prosperity to the owner, but get caught stealing them and you’ll be turned to stone. Known to marry mortals now and then: end up vanishing forever the moment their significant others blurt out their true nature

 Mascard Bull: Black and wreathed in flames, runs around mountains.

 Furtaperas: A grotesque, humanoid bogeyman that actually craves pears above all things, only turning to children if it can’t find any

 Peladits: A tall, thin ogre covered in black hair that controls armies of lice.

 Marmajor: Mountain-dwelling bogeyman apparently so good at what it does it is ALWAYS encountered gnawing on children, and carries so many upon its back it leaves a trail of wounded toddlers in its wake.

 Trubinco: Goblin that enters houses and makes a mess of things unless the owners offer them their favourite toy: A pinecone slathered in tar

 Malacosa: Black, pointy-headed being of great size that does nothing but follow people anywhere they go, even waiting outside if they take shelter

 Gops: Extremely violent giants that not only prey on humans but also their own dead and wounded. Have disgustingly matted hair, long beards growing out of their nose, and a single fang

 Taranganyo: Goblins that enter the bodies of children and give them rickets.

 Peirot: Bogeyman that appears monstrously bloated from all the children its swallowed. Constantly dancing

 Carpia: A ghostly bird that brings bad luck, sometimes appears as a thin, wrinkled hag

 Drago: Enormous, has a human-like head an arms but the body of a snake or basilisk. Enslaved an entire region, threatening the locals via terrible bellows to feed its bottomless hunger. After having devoured all the cattle they had to offer, it went on to consume every last human in the vicinity. Beyond that its ultimate fate is unclear: some say it starved to death, where others claim it left to Africa.

 Moixina: Female bogeyman that stalked water springs. Some describe it as a beautiful nymph, while others claim it’s some kind of cat-like animal

Seven-Headed Cuca: Bogeyman that might be either a giant worm, or a dragon

[zippdementia]

Part 33 Alignment May Vary: The End?

The forge hammer came down. Lightning burst from the place where it struck the anvil. The phylactery whined with a sound like steam bursting from a thin hole. It cracked and all hell broke loose. Karina gasped as the scales shuddered. Tyrion whispered, “no,” then shotued it in rage as the balances tipped and the treasure of Haggemoth fell to the lava 60 feet below. Xaviee turned to Abenthy, crying out at him, imploring him to explain what he had just done and why. Abenthy gave him a calm look: “Justice,” he said.

Haggemoth’s absolution was built around his scales, entwined as they were with a colossal spell of attonement. The idea was that as long as the plates were roughly in balance—in terms of wealth, weight, and there being one side representing magic and the other the forge arts—when they were struck with the forgehammer, the remaining treasure would be dumped into the lava and the power of the spell would pour into the phylactery, freeing Haggemoth’s soul of its sin and letting him move on. Furthermore, the forgehammer carries a blessing that, when used in this manner, cleanses the bearer’s soul and also fills it with dwarven wisdom and power. This has some interesting effects, some cosmetic, like making the weilder grow a beard (Haggemoth intended to magically grow back his long lost beard) and gain a dwarven accent. Mechanically, it also gives some racial bonuses and (most interestingly) removes ALL levels of Arcane magic and replaces them with levels in Fighter.

This would have been very interesting for any of the characters. Abenthy’s soul would have been freed from his father’s grasp, leaving him free to once again make his own destiny. Karina would have lost her arcane thief levels but turned her into a formidable fighter (as well as make her somewhat of a freak of nature, with mixed Dwarven and Tiefling blood). Tyrion was the one I was most hoping for, however, as it would have destroyed the demon inside of him, turned him towards the path of good, made him an incredibly powerful fighter (especially with that axe!) and (last but not least) grown back his lost hair along with a fancy new beard!

However, none of this happens. Because Abenthy struck the anvil when the scales were not in balance, the scales tear themselves apart, dump the treasure into the lava, and Haggemoth’s soul is doomed. Of course, Abenthy suspected this, and thus spoke his father’s name prior to striking the scales, sending Haggemoth’s soul to Ia’fret to be punished for all eternity. Abenthy got exactly what he wanted, though the results are dire.

First, the chain reaction tears the room apart, ripping open a hole in the cavern wall where the lava begins to pour out, turning this lava lake into a lava river and ripping the bridge free from the wall and taking it (and the players) with it. Then Tyrion, recognizing one of the destroyed items as a legendary Staff of Power (an insanely OPed item that would have steered his character’s ascension to higher levels of power throughout the next campaign) and in a mad rage, attacks Abenthy. Abenthy is given some of the power of Haggemoth’s soul by his father and it levels him up to level 8, while also completing his journey to the dark side. Xaviee is horrified by what has happened, but he is quickly knocked out by a piece of the falling scale. Karina, also horrified by the situation, tries to put herself between Tyrion and Abenthy, but the Halfling slips between her legs and when she trips him with her tail, he falls facefirst into a puddle of lava that splashes up onto the bridge. Knocked unconscious, the Halfling never gets his revenge. The room darkens and shifts, the lava disappearing, the red glow of heat being replaced by a cool damp. The stalactites seem to morph and move as they become the shapes of bodies, wriggling from their places in the ceiling, hung upside down. Moans and cries of anguish float down to the bridge which has also changed: extended beyond the range of any of their visions, it now spans a dark chasm with no bottom. Striding across the bridge is a massive figure, a man shaped like a bat, huge, with a greatsword in one hand and a ball and chain in another. The ball drags behind him as he moves, making a scraping sound against the hard stone.

“Father,” Abenthy acknowledged the creature as it came close. In response, I’afret gestured back across the bridge from whence he came. “It is time to go, son,” he said. “You have proven yourself worthy of being arbiter. You are the new Inevitable of Justice and you have greater things to do then linger here with these mortals.”

“But if I leave them now, they will die,” Abenthy protested.

“That is not your concern.”

“It is. As the new Inevitable of Justice, I must see Justice is done.”

I’afret laughed. “This is the fire I saw in you, the reason you have done so well! Always questioning, never satisfied with another’s authority. Good. But take a look at them, son.”

Abenthy looked, and saw that Karina’s face was aglow with a bright blue light where her ruined eye had been. And Tyrion... Tyrion had a shadow bent over him, sneering at Abenthy, its clawed hands dug deep into Tyrion’s heart.

“Get away from him!” Abenthy roared. But the shadow only laughed.

“This one is mine. His soul, mine. His life, mine.”

“I will send you back to the dark, I will banish you from him.”

“You shall not. We have a contract, and it is binding. He entered into it of his own accord.”

Abenthy recoiled but he felt the truth behind the words. His father laid a hand thick with black fur on his shoulder. “You see, son? They have made their own fates. They have chosen their own paths. You no longer need to walk it with them. There are others who need your justice. You know of whom I speak.”

Abenthy nodded. He did know. They had a ways to travel to get there, too. He reached inside his belt pouch and drew out the strange rune he had found at the bottom of the lake, the one that had belonged to Rayden.

“This is yours,” he said to Karina. “It is a part of your fate, not mine. Mine... it awaits me.” Then he looked her directly in the eyes. “I will be back for you.”

The words left her... she wasn’t sure. They chilled her. But also warmed her, somewhere deeper. She didn’t know which feeling was the more true. It was the last they spoke. She did not respond, and so he dropped the stone on the bridge, turned and walked away, his father’s dark mass following.

Karina had been speechless but suddenly she found her voice. “Wait!” she called out, lamely. Of course it did not good. The world shattered around her and she and Tyrion and Xaviee were back in the heat of the lava room, the room spinning around her as the bridge sped down the river of lava, the heat threatening with every passing second to overwhelm her completely. She grabbed Tyrion to keep him from plummeting over the edge and held on for dear life.

This roller coaster ride eventually spills the remaining players out into the ocean, where they are hit by the mercifully cool salt wind and greeted by familiar lizardfolk, who have surrounded the old cliffside volcano in their rafts. With them is a familiar figure: a four eyed Tiefling with jet black skin, who calls out frantically as he spots Karina. Yes, Verrik has survived his fall from the bridge to the tomb and now eagerly reunites with Karina and the rest of the group. He tells them that he was saved after the explosion by a Wood Elf who had been living on the island as a castaway for over five years. After pulling the players aboard his raft, Verrik introduces the elf in question...

(unpronounceable name)

Near the glorious and ancient city of Waterdeep there is a forest known to the locals as the Grey Woods, for the thick fog that often hangs over the forest’s edges. Rumors persist about how the fog originated and what its purpose might be. Whether natural or magical, the fog hides a valley deep in the forest where the fog parts to reveal a beautiful city of wood elves. This particular tribe believes that the body is sacred and that technology beyond the simplest tools is an affront to the gods who formed them. So they practice the martial arts and become weapons more than capable of defending their homeland. Outside of those who pass the training and become monks, the tribes are a peaceful people, seeking not expansion but merely maintaining their home and the forest. They are self sufficient, though occasionally they will trade magical artifacts formed by their shamans for goods during difficult or lean years, and sometimes an enterprising young elf will take on a role as a caravan guard or escort and will use a portion of their earnings to bring further prosperity to the tribe. It is not uncommon for younglings to gain a certain wanderlust and this arrangement puts their talents to productive use while keeping them at least somewhat attached to their tribe.

Traki, which means the Leaf Blown Wind (to his friends... his elvish name we selected from a random die roll in Xanathar’s Guide and it is nigh unpronounceable), was one of these enterprising young wood elves. Enticed by the thought of what might lay beyond the woods, he made plans to board a merchant ship and ride with it as protector against pirates. He was going to bring his best friend and blood brother, Falko (again, short for unpronounceable elven name), with him, but they fought the day of his departure and Traki ventured into the wide world alone. Fate was not with him, however, and the ship that he boarded was blown far off course by a storm, entering the waters around Rori Rama where it was attacked by a sea storm serpent, a vicious beast which is always accompanied by lightning and storm. Traki was knocked unconscious during the encounter and ended up washing ashore the island of Rori Rama where he survived for nearly ten years. During this time, he mostly made his own way. The lizardfolk and he had some dealings, but neither wished to abide the other’s company for long enough to do more than trad

Traki was recently visited by prophetic dreams: not uncommon for wood elves of his tribe, thought he had not had any since being washed ashore Rori Rama. In the dream, he saw a Red Hand sweep the world with fire and death. Through the fire walked three figures, one a demon with a single bright, blue eye; one a shadow shaped like an angel; and a third a small man with a beast riding his shoulders. The dream also showed him the island’s great mountain where the dwarf Haggemoth had built a mighty fortress, since fallen into disrepair. Traki made his way there the next day and was surprised to find the fortress had been attacked. Bugbears who had taken the fortress a year or two ago were slain and their corpses were strewn about the battlefield and the surrounding woods. While investigating, Traki saw something humanoid floating down the river. More than that, it had the appearance of a demon! Remembering his dream, Traki fished Verick out of the river and used his knowledge of healing and medicine to bring him back to health. Verick told him of his missing companions, the companions which now Traki has met and told his story to, and which seem to fit his dream’s vision... minus one angel, of course.

Replacing Abenthy with Traki is a difficult decision that his player makes. Considering what has become of Abenthy, though, we both agreed that he no longer fit in the confines of this storyline. Abenthy has greater things to move on to and is no longer motivated by the things that drive most adventures: a desire to save towns and nations from destruction and to gain some reward in the process. Abenthy is thinking on grander scales now, in terms of concepts of justice and punishment and his task to mete these out. He has transcended the story line and the party, leveled up in more ways than just combat and ability scores can define, and the only way to truly simulate this is to let him move on. We have a long discussion about this and the players also talk about what some of the possibilities would have been had Abenthy stuck around. There was talk between Karina and Abenthy, for instance, of them having a child together and the child becoming Karina’s new character for the next campaign: a fusing of light and dark and Tiefling and Angel. Sounds like the stuff legends are born of! The opportunity for such a coupling may still be on the horizon...

TLDR: Traki is Abenthy’s replacement character, now that Abenthy has grown beyond the confines of the party and the main storyline. He is a wood elf monk, and he is ready to kick some butt in order to prevent a dark prophecy from coming to pass.

In Sickness and in Health

Back when Karina first created her character, her bond was determined to be a commander during the War of Seven Sorrows, who had betrayed her for unknown reasons at the end of the war and left her unable to return to her homeland, for fear of being persecuted for crimes she did not commit. Her personal goal was to find this man, Rayden, and discover the truth: why had he betrayed her? And then to take revenge for the betrayal.

I’d first intended that Rayden would have gone on the same quest for Haggemoth’s tomb that the players undertook, only at the very edge of the tomb’s discovery, he was taken by fever and his mind lost. The dilemma was to be whether Karina would take her revenge on this man who no longer even knew what he had done.

I had pegged revenge as the focal point of Karina’s bond, but in doing so I had been wrong. In truth, it turned out that the real thing Karina was interested in was the story, the truth of why Rayden had done what he did. So I quickly shifted some things around and expanded Rayden’s back story, then improvised a runic device for the players which could later be used to enter a fevered mind and find the man buried within.

This device was partially a fail safe for me. Activated by blood, if the players died inside the tomb, it would take their minds inside the last person to have used it: Rayden (now the islander Den Den). This way I could satisfy the players by finally revealing Karina and Rayden’s back story and even potentially give them a way out of death and back to the tombs afterwards. I suspected I would have to use it during the Golem fight, but my players surprised me (Karina in particular by rolling something like four 20s in a row) and came out mostly unscathed. So it is left as a post-adventure climax.

The lizardmen tell the companions that with Haggemoth’s tomb and soul gone, the jungle island must now be forever closed off to the outside world and will return to its natural state. They will be caretakers of the island, but all intruders must leave. This means the companions and Traki, who is honestly only too happy to oblige, having been marooned here for so long.

The lizardfolk take the companions back to the gateway island, where the natives inform them that Den Den has fallen prey to the fever again and is close to passing away. He has been whispering Karina’s name and calling out for someone named “Monita,” but does not respond to any stimuli. Remembering Rayden’s journals, Karina knows what she must do.

The next few days are spent in preparation, with Karina splitting her time between identifying the remainder of their magical items taken from the tombs and learning the inner workings of the runic device that they will use to enter Rayden. Traki and Tyrion both agree to go with Karina into Rayden’s mind, as the more wills they have to bring to bear on his mind the better their chances of breaking through the fever and finding him. Traki spends most of his time meditating and it is during one of these sessions that he finally again sees his blood brother, Falko. Falko tells him that the woods have been burnt, that the elves have been run out, that it was agents of the Red Hand who did it. He cannot say more before the vision is cut off.

Tyrion, meanwhile, tries to rest up for their new adventure, but he finds it difficult. Every day, his own sickness seems to worsen, and while he puts a smile on his face every day, finally Traki realizes just how sick he is and, furthermore, what has gotten hold of him.

“It is the green death,” Traki explains to Karina and Tyrion, making Tyrion show them his back, which has a mold like covering of green fungus on it. “Mindrot, is a word I came up with for it. You see it sometimes deep in the jungle of Rori Rama, in places that the animals avoid. The Mindrot Thralls live there and any who invade their territory become like them.”

“What does it do?” Karina asks.

“The green death slowly eats away at the body of the infected. It... kills them. And when it is done, they rise again, in thralldom, and infect others.”

“Is there a cure?”

“Burn the body.” Traki looks at her seriously. “That is the best way. But not the only way. I know of herbs on the island which can help the body fight off the infection. Maybe we can find them here. They could help, but in the end it must be beaten from within and in this there is little we can do. Your friend must be strong.”

Unfortunately, Tyrion’s constitution rolls have not been great lately. His hit points dwindle until, the day they are to venture into Rayden’s mind, he has only ten maximum hit points. Sickly looking and feeling at death’s door, he nonetheless joins the others while the natives agree to gather the proper herbs for his recovery, hoping that they can heal him when he returns.

The players share this last evening together, telling stories of their adventures and bringing Traki up to speed on everything that has happened. Traki is a good listener, if not an amazing audience. He does not gasp or exclaim or ever seem concerned by the things they say, but he listens intently and does ask a few questions, all of them about the Red Hand. Unfortunately, here they can do little to enlighten him, except to say what they have seen. These are painful memories. Karina lost Shando, Targaryen, and later Twyin to the Red Hand and its machinations. Verrick used to be one of their number, but all he knows is that they are gathering their power to the east, past the Dragonfang mountains, under the leadership of a mysterious charismatic figure. He was hired by them only to work with the ship they now call Twyin’s revenge, to scour the Moonsea for the statue artifact that Karina now has in her pack, taken from the Watery Temple where Twyin fought Targaryen and both were killed. Notably, Xaviee does not join them in this conversation. He has been quiet often since the tombs and Karina knows he is regretting having thrown his lot in with them, after having seen Abenthy steal Haggemoth’s soul and turn from the party. Those two were close and Xaviee trusted the Aasimir. The half-angel’s turn has shaken him deeply.

Eventually dawn comes and the three gather in Den Den’s tent. Following Karina’s instructions, they cut themselves and bleed onto the runic disc then mix Den Den’s blood in with theirs. Karina begins to chant the activation words while burning the proper alchemical ingredients. They begin to feel cold. Traki gasps in surprise as his fingers, laid upon the disc, begin to sink into it. He tries to pull free but the movement only intensifies the disc’s pull and with a sudden rush of cold, he is plunged inside of it.

A Storm of Memories

Cold. Wet. Dark.

These are the first sensations Karina feels as feeling comes back to her. The next sensation is of weightlessness as she is spun around, head over heels, by the forces around. All at once, she realizes she cannot breath. Water all around her, pressing down on her lungs, reaching cold fingers inside of her. She panics, pushes, strikes out blindly in one direction, and breaks the surface of an ocean in storm.

Lightning flashes around her, waves pulse as if pushed up from the depths by unseen giants. Nearby she can see Tyrion, sputtering and staying afloat with strong strokes of his small but massively muscled arms. There is no sign of Traki.

The next thing Karina feels is one of the strangest sensations in her life. Her right eye, the one gouged out by the snake in the hinterlands of Frezourazov, is burning with the spray of salt water. She suddenly realizes she can see out of that eye: it is no longer missing.

This revelation is followed by a cold smack in the face from another wave. Iun a flash of lightning she suddenly sees Traki, treading water about fifty yards away. We are all here, then, she thinks. But where was here? Did the device work? Had they been transported inside Rayden’s mind? Was this what inner turmoil looked like? Regardless, they could not stay here. What they needed was a ship, wreckage to hold onto... or land, really.

Here I have Karina make an intelligence roll versus a minor DC. She passes, and so...

Suddenly another flash of lightning illuminates a dark shape on the horizon. An island! It must have been behind Karina or else she had been pulled away from it by the storm. But now, seeing it, she strikes out in that direction, wasting only a single breath to call out to Tyrion and Traki to follow, hoping that they can hear her above the pounding of the waves.

Moments later, the three pull themselves up on blessed shore and collapse, sucking in long lungfuls of air. Presently, they gather themselves and take stock of their situation. They are wearing rags, the same rags Karina was forced into on the slaver ship so long ago. All other equipment that they had is gone: no packs, no potions, no weapons, no armor. They are marooned on a mysterious island with not even a single ration to spare, and no sign of Rayden in sight.

Traki is the first to recover and begins immediately heading up the beach, like a hound on the scent. “ Come,” he tells the others. “It is this way.”

“What do you mean?” Tyrion’s shrill voice pierces the crash of the waves against the shore. “How do you know where to go?”

“Because this is not Rayden’s memory,” Traki says. “It is my own, of the night I was stranded on the island of Rori Rama.”

The three follow Traki through the thick brush delineating the beach and push their way slowly into a jungle. They know not when it happens, but suddenly the storm is gone, replaced by the heat of day and the sounds of birds and animals. Traki follows a path that he clearly knows well, only stopping now and then to kneel by the side of the path. After one of these halts, he looks concerned.

“See this,” he says, handing them a large frond ripped from a nearby plant.

Karina turns it over in her hand. “What am I looking for?” she asks.

But Tyrion sees it before Traki can answer. “That,” he says coldly, pointing at a large splotch of green fungus which has taken over a portion of the frond.

Traki nods. “I fear you have brought your infection with us,” he tells Traki. “And if what Rayden wrote in his journals is true, that is exactly how his crew infected each other with their fever. I have seen more signs of the Green Death as we have walked. It is subtle, but it is there.”

“Then we burn it out,” Karina says and presses her fingertips to the leaf. Within seconds of her channeling her magic, the leaf has withered and died. But Traki shakes his head: “No,” he says. “It would take us hours to burn through this forest with what spells we have. And I fear our time here is short. There is danger here, can you not feel it?”

They all can, but none can quite define what that danger is. Uneasily, they move on. As they progress, Traki’s steps become more unsure. “This is no longer my path,” he tells them. “It has changed to the path another walked. I can see where the brush was parted or even cut away. We can follow, but I know not where it will take us.” Without other options, though, the party decides to keep following, while the path climbs higher into the hills. “At least we will be able to have a good vantage point,” Traki tells them.

Eventually they reach an area that at least is familiar to Karina and Tyrion: a lakeside campsite, the same campsite where they found Rayden’s abandoned journal and equipment, the furthest he made it in Rori Rama before being struck with fever and turning back. And here, sitting beside his tent, is not Rayden, but Den Den. Cross legged on the ground, the fat man smiles at them.

“You have come here seeking something,” he says.

“Yes,” Karina answers. “I come seeking truth.”

“Truth,” he chuckles. “Truth is not always what it seems here. This place, where we are, this is safe. But beyond it lies memory, and danger, and truth, yes. But memory is not always accurate, even if it is true. This land can shift, do not forget that. If you would go forward, then you must start by climbing the seeing tree.” He points to a massive tree behind the campsite, so large that its trunk seems more a constructed wall than a living thing and that trunk extends upwards to a height greater than most towers. Leaves and foliage obscure its highest points and create a roof over the area through which they cannot see.

As they begin to climb, Den Den gives them one final warning: “The fever is here. It will burn away everything soon, even Den Den. If you are not quick, it will consume you, too.”

And then Den Den closes his eyes, and the three companions are left to climb the great tree and see into the land of memory.

A Dark Landscape

The task of climbing is quickly done. Indeed, there is an odd sense of jubilation to the climbing of the tree, as if each foot ascended brings them closer to euphoria. It is not a difficult climb and soon, they are laughing and showing off. Physics seem to matter less in this place and so Tyrion and Traki especially take full advantage, leaping from branch to branch with huge jumps and bursts of energy. Tyrion one ups Traki, using Traki’s head as a stepping stone to launch himself even higher. Traki falls, but it does not seem to hurt him. He is back up on his feet and bounding up the tree after Tyrion shortly. Karina alone takes the task at a more traditional pace, climbing steadily hand over hand. Ironically, or perhaps because of this, she is the first to actually ascend, bursting through the upper layers of the tree and staring out at a suddenly familiar landscape.

Behind them, yes, there is the jungle land of Rori Rama. But in front the scenery has changed to that of blasted glass, an obsidian plain stretching as far as they can see. The time of day has changed, too: it is dawn, or approaching that--the colors of bright jungle day have sunk down into dull fire, the embers of sunlight waiting to be ignited by the orb that will soon appear on the horizon.

“The plains of Markesh,” Karina says solemnly. “My first battle was fought here,” she tells the others. “And it is also where I first met him.”

The climb down from the tree does not take long, but as they near its base, they realize it is no longer a tree. They are now descending a sheer obsidian rock face, alighting at last into the blasted plains of Markesh.

“A great battle will be fought on these plains,” Karina explains to Traki and Tyrion as she helps them down off the cliff side.

“Indeed it will,” a new voice says from behind them. They turn to see a man making his way carefully towards them over the broken and uneven landscape. He is well built, wearing leather armor like he was born in it, and wearing a smile that seems to fit the wrinkles at the corners of his mouth so perfectly that it is clearly a well practiced movement. HIs hair is black and wavy, with a stripe of white in the front. “You are just in time, new recruits,” the man says. “I am captain Rayden. Welcome to the fight.”

Next time, As She Remembers It, the party is taken through a whirlwind adventure in time as they move through the layers of Rayden and Karina’s memories.

[agent-7-at-your-service]

Future Plot: Project Titanomachy - Chapter 10

(( Camille and the Wonder Inkling idea belong to @inklingleesquidly

Nebula (mentioned) belongs to @myzzy and @agenttwo

Emerald and Sapphire belong to @son-of-joy and @twelvetailedkitsune

Telemachus, Chaodis, and greek mythology depictions belong to me ))

Hephaestus's Forge, Mount Olympus, Greece - 3:50 PM

Camille approaches Hephaestus in his main forge where several Cyclopes were organizing metals. She placed Athena's spear on the anvil in front of him.

"I want to know about the War that happened in Troy," Camille added.

Hephaestus sounded surprised to hear her say that, but quite scared to answer.

When I asked that, he refused to answer. I kept pushing him a bit until he gave a vague answer: "You'll never understand what Zeus has done to our family." I knew it wasn't enough, but I didn't have time to talk further.

Chaodis convinced me to bring Telemachus along and leave Nebula in Mount Olympus. The reason for it was because she needed time to herself for a moment. When I made the final choices, I brought with me Telemachus, Emerald, and Chaodis to Mount Othrys. We took a few taxis and buses to get to the place.

Mount Othrys, Greece - 8:11 PM

The mountain they arrived wasn't as tall as Mount Olympus, but it did look like a natural hill with vegetation and hiking routes. Hephaestus has been told stories by his mother of how she and her brothers and sisters laid waste to the place. Telemachus can speculate that there was something built on the mountain by the Titans and got demolished by the Olympians.

There was a mini drone floating in mid-air, waiting for Camille. It was there to drop off the Wonder Inkling Nemo outfit and the .96 Gal and .96 Gal Deco which were kept in a secondary Mermaid's Purse. Camille retrieve the package and kept it safe in her inventory.

All Camille and her rescue party could do is follow the hiking trails and reach the top. On the way to the top, they had no encounters with any hostile creatures, not even a titan. Their destination was a recently built ritual grounds with a sigil in the shape of a triangle carrying 12 stars and the symbol of Saturn. Ouroboros circled the sigil. It seems a cult has formed recently here as there's a marble baptismal font, a few lit candles, clumps of pyrite ore, and traces of cattle blood. And, ominously, there are black sea slugs and hagfish crawling about in puddles of murky water.

Emerald picked up one of the clumps of pyrite ore and examined it; It was chiseled into the symbol of Saturn.

"Saturn is associated with the King of the Titans, Cronus, since it's the planet he reigns on," Telemachus explained, "I blame the Romans for this complicated connection."

"Then I guess this cult is serving the Titans," Emerald guessed.

"But what are they doing, worshipping the Titans?" Chaodis asked.

"...I think we're about to find out." Camille pointed to a band of unknown hooded beings. "We need to hide."

As we hid in the bushes, we watched these cult members perform some rituals. They brought in two cattle and stone carved into a certain pattern.

These humanoids were dressed in silver, adorned in lead, and represented with two white feathers. Silk curtains covered all their faces.

Among them wore a headdress with horns and two feathers; this was possibly the cult leader. And as she spoke in an unknown language, four hagfishes appear out of her sleeves to execute the cattle with nothing but the carved stone.

"What are they saying?" Emerald asked.

"How should I know?" Camille replied.

Somehow, Chaodis knew the words.

Chaodis looks at Camille and Emerald and whispered the translation of the cult leader's words:

"To the mighty that have overthrown the skies, to the mighty that have been overthrown by the children of Cronus, and to the mighty that are now bound to the Ophion's Incarnate." Chaodis smiled at Camille.

"I wonder what that means." Emerald looked to Telemachus for an explanation

"Don't look at me, I don't know how Ophion is connected with all this," Telemachus responded.

"Typhon...," Camille assumed.

Nebula screaming that name still rung in Camille's head.

Chaodis continues translating: "From the depth of Tartarus, we sacrifice life for life, and from the darkness, Enceladus rise."

The cult steps back, and a gigantic being made of cracked clay and magma. From the crack, hagfishes enter inside and a dark purple ink oozes out. The awakened giant roars and takes out a rusty iron spear and round shield.

Chaodis translates the last words from the cult leader: "We shall serve the Titans well, freeing every being from Tartarus. We'll bind them to Typhon and reign under the Creators and Eurynome one more. A gift to the Titans."

The Cult leader and the other members began chanting and clouds gather only to part to reveal a violet star. The star flickered red and red lighting comes down to strike the giant Enceladus. This could be a possible chance for Camille and her rescue team to track down Rhea and Sapphire.

"Telemachus, put on Hades's Helmet." Camille change from Agent into Olympian. "We're going to get struck by that lightning."

"I can guess why." Telemachus changes into his Olympian form.

Telemachus offers to pick up Emerald while Camille picks up Chaodis. They start flying towards the ritual's center where the giant Enceladus we going to be struck by lightning.

"Hey, Princess, after this would you like a date?" Chaodis asked.

"Is now a good time to be asking that!?" Camille sounded annoyed.

The cult was alarmed as the four inklings approached Enceladus. The giant recognized Camille being a champion of Athena and Zeus and it prepared to fight. When Camille and her team were close enough, the lightning strikes the giant and then Camille.

"Guys, hold onto me!' Camille ordered.

Emerald and Chaodis grabbed onto her legs while Telemachus grabbed her arm.

Afterward, everyone went white, fading to reveal a land of night and temples. The skies were different, the sun didn't bring day, and the earth was like their home planet.

((Insert battle against Gigantomachy Veteran- Enceladus:  https://soundcloud.com/squid_fish/meta-knights-revenge-super-smash-bros-brawl ))

They were in a marble pier with the giant, Enceladus, and he delivered a thrust of his spear at Camille. With her Capoeira moves, she moves out of the way. She then pulled out her shield and spear.

"Champion of Athena," Enceladus began, "I shall redeem my defeat against the Wise Goddess!"

"We'll see about that, Clayface!" Camille points Athena's spear at him.

Her team got ready, changing their ink colors to green.

Telemachus took out the Key to the Underworld and stood by Camille's side. Emerald got into her Olympian form and prepared Apollo's bow. Chaodis didn't have an Olympian form and just took out his Mini Splatling.

Enceladus waves one arm around and scattered drops of dark purple ink for the squids to dodge.

Emerald kept her distance and fires glass arrows at the giant, blinding him with flashes. Telemachus raises an army of skeletal figures made of ink and sends them attacking the legs. Chaodis kept his eyes on Camille, making sure the giant doesn't outsmart her.

Camille flies around the Titan, swoop towards him to deliver a deep stab. There were no clouds for her to strike thunder.

Enceladus stomps the ground to crush Telemachus's undead minions and stagger him, Emerald and Chaodis. The hagfish from the cracks from his clay arm extended and took advantage of it by grabbing Camille.

In response, Camille used the Medusa head on her shield to petrify the extended hagfish and she make them crumble with a few choreographic kicks.

Emerald saw this and decided to draw the parasitic extension away from Camille by firing at the hagfishes. However, one huge hagfish replaces the clay arm and roars at the Olympians. Emerald continue firing at that arm, but the arrows did nothing but blind Enceladus.

Enceladus, blinded by more of the light from the arrows, was swinging his magma arm now, scattering molten ink. Telemachus was dodging them. The hagfish took a mind of its own and targeted Camille; when it was about to strike, Chaodis fire a few shots and warned Camille.

"Camille! The arm!" Chaodis alerted.

Camille flew towards the stunned hagfish arm and electrifies Athena's spear. She then threw it at the arm and it bursts into green ink. She then swoops down to catch her spear.

Enceladus roars in pain and tries to burn the wound, but Emerald relentlessly fire 3 glass arrows at a time. This made the flashes so bright that Camille, Telemachus, and Chaodis had to cover their eyes. These relentless flash attacks make the giant back up only to end up falling off the pier and into the water where the water cools off the magma part of his body.

The lifeless body soon sinks.

Emerald watched one of the Titan's cousins sink. "And stay dead!"

((End of battle music))

Emerald was pretty mad that Sapphire's kidnapped, but I thought to myself that she will be saved. We just need to search the Titan's home.... and it was a massive castle.

The Titan's Castle - Unknown Planet - Time Unknown

Camille changes to the Wonder Inkling Nemo outfit instead of the Agent outfit. After all, they were on another planet. Telemachus, Chaodis, and Emerald were back in their Agent attires.

"It suits you, Camille," Chaodis complimented.

"Hmph, I prefer the agent suit more," Telemachus commented.

Emerald waiting for them. "Come on! No time for costume changing."

Once Camille had the .96 Gal Deco out, they continue their search for Sapphire. But through the maze of halls, dungeons, and rooms, giants, harpies, hellhounds, minotaurs, and nagas patrolled. Telemachus had to lead the rescue team to assure that stealth was on their side.

However, Telemachus decided to try out Hades's helmet and put on a disguise of a Minotaur. Once in the guise, he has Camille, Chaodis and Emerald wait. He approaches a patrol of minotaurs and asked them. He also made sure his Multi-Personality Disorder doesn't blow the cover.

"Cronus has sent me to check on the Olympian," Telemachus began, "As a new recruit, I need directions."

One of the minotaurs pointed to a hallway. "Just take the hallway and go right. The cells should be there with the Champion of Artemis."

"Thank you." Telemachus then pretends to escort Camille, Emerald, and Chaodis over there as prisoners. "I am also informed to take these trespassers there as well."

The minotaur patrol didn't question the order and they leave Telemachus be.

"Real clever, Telemachus," Emerald thanked.

Telemachus remained in the minotaur disguise.

"Let's make it quick, alright?" Telemachus replied.

This rescue mission went smoothly, but that was until we reach Sapphire's cell. Thanks to Telemachus, we found her cell..... but it was empty.

"Empty!?!' Emerald enraged.

"I could've sworn..." Telemachus drops the disguise and puts Hades's helmet away.

"Where could she be now?" Camille asked.

"....Guys..." Chaodis was looking behind and noticed a titan.

It was Rhea again.

[sciencespies]

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

https://sciencespies.com/environment/lightning-has-powerful-air-cleaning-properties-surprising-analysis-reveals/

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

Lightning could be a much more important atmospheric cleanser than previously thought, according to a new analysis of historical measurements gathered from a storm-chasing airplane back in 2012 – data which were originally thought to be inaccurate.

While some of the air-scrubbing qualities of lightning bolts are already well understood – in particular the creation of nitric oxide and hydroxide that can flush out various greenhouse gases from the sky – there’s a lot more going on here, according to the new research.

It appears that both lightning bolts and the weaker, invisible electrical charges around them can produce the pollutant-catching oxidants hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxyl (HO2), which can also remove gases such as methane and carbon monoxide from the atmosphere.

“Initially, we looked at these huge OH and HO2 signals found in the clouds and asked, what is wrong with our instrument?” says meteorologist William Brune, from Penn State University.

“We assumed there was noise in the instrument, so we removed the huge signals from the dataset and shelved them for later study.”

These 2012 readings were taken from a NASA plane flying over Colorado and Oklahoma, measuring the anvil (or top portion) of storm clouds. The recent analysis, plus data gathered on the ground at the same time, showed that the lightning was indeed producing these high levels of oxidants.

Classic shape of an anvil cloud. (Hussein Kefel/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A series of lab simulations backed up the idea that both visible lightning and invisible electrical charges in the air could produce extreme amounts of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals. However, in the air they detected little to no additional nitric oxide and ozone produced from the type of lightning you can actually see in the sky, and lab results were uncertain on these molecules too.

It’s worth bearing in mind that most lightning bolts never strike the ground, but are nevertheless setting off a multitude of chemical reactions in the clouds.

At the moment, the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl produced by lightning isn’t included in atmospheric modeling – an omission that could be significant.

“Through history, people were only interested in lightning bolts because of what they could do on the ground,” says Brune. “Now there is increasing interest in the weaker electrical discharges in thunderstorms that lead to lightning bolts.”

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the data, the researchers admit – mostly because their data is from a small part of the world over a limited time frame – but they estimate that between 2-16 percent of global atmospheric oxidation could be caused by lightning storms.

As the planet gets warmer, thunderstorms and lightning strikes are likely to become more common, which will in turn affect the balance of greenhouse gases in the air – perhaps much more than scientists had thought up to this point.

Now that we know more about what’s happening, the next stage in the research will be to take measurements of these effects in places that aren’t Oklahoma and Colorado – and it sounds likely there’s plenty more to discover.

“Most thunderstorms are in the tropics,” says Brune. “The whole structure of high plains storms is different than those in the tropics. Clearly we need more aircraft measurements to reduce this uncertainty.”

The research has been published in Science and the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

#Environment

[sciencespies]

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

https://sciencespies.com/environment/lightning-has-powerful-air-cleaning-properties-surprising-analysis-reveals/

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

Lightning could be a much more important atmospheric cleanser than previously thought, according to a new analysis of historical measurements gathered from a storm-chasing airplane back in 2012 – data which were originally thought to be inaccurate.

While some of the air-scrubbing qualities of lightning bolts are already well understood – in particular the creation of nitric oxide and hydroxide that can flush out various greenhouse gases from the sky – there’s a lot more going on here, according to the new research.

It appears that both lightning bolts and the weaker, invisible electrical charges around them can produce the pollutant-catching oxidants hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxyl (HO2), which can also remove gases such as methane and carbon monoxide from the atmosphere.

“Initially, we looked at these huge OH and HO2 signals found in the clouds and asked, what is wrong with our instrument?” says meteorologist William Brune, from Penn State University.

“We assumed there was noise in the instrument, so we removed the huge signals from the dataset and shelved them for later study.”

These 2012 readings were taken from a NASA plane flying over Colorado and Oklahoma, measuring the anvil (or top portion) of storm clouds. The recent analysis, plus data gathered on the ground at the same time, showed that the lightning was indeed producing these high levels of oxidants.

Classic shape of an anvil cloud. (Hussein Kefel/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A series of lab simulations backed up the idea that both visible lightning and invisible electrical charges in the air could produce extreme amounts of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals. However, in the air they detected little to no additional nitric oxide and ozone produced from the type of lightning you can actually see in the sky, and lab results were uncertain on these molecules too.

It’s worth bearing in mind that most lightning bolts never strike the ground, but are nevertheless setting off a multitude of chemical reactions in the clouds.

At the moment, the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl produced by lightning isn’t included in atmospheric modeling – an omission that could be significant.

“Through history, people were only interested in lightning bolts because of what they could do on the ground,” says Brune. “Now there is increasing interest in the weaker electrical discharges in thunderstorms that lead to lightning bolts.”

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the data, the researchers admit – mostly because their data is from a small part of the world over a limited time frame – but they estimate that between 2-16 percent of global atmospheric oxidation could be caused by lightning storms.

As the planet gets warmer, thunderstorms and lightning strikes are likely to become more common, which will in turn affect the balance of greenhouse gases in the air – perhaps much more than scientists had thought up to this point.

Now that we know more about what’s happening, the next stage in the research will be to take measurements of these effects in places that aren’t Oklahoma and Colorado – and it sounds likely there’s plenty more to discover.

“Most thunderstorms are in the tropics,” says Brune. “The whole structure of high plains storms is different than those in the tropics. Clearly we need more aircraft measurements to reduce this uncertainty.”

The research has been published in Science and the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

#Environment

[sciencespies]

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

https://sciencespies.com/environment/lightning-has-powerful-air-cleaning-properties-surprising-analysis-reveals/

Lightning has powerful air cleaning properties, surprising analysis reveals

Lightning could be a much more important atmospheric cleanser than previously thought, according to a new analysis of historical measurements gathered from a storm-chasing airplane back in 2012 – data which were originally thought to be inaccurate.

While some of the air-scrubbing qualities of lightning bolts are already well understood – in particular the creation of nitric oxide and hydroxide that can flush out various greenhouse gases from the sky – there’s a lot more going on here, according to the new research.

It appears that both lightning bolts and the weaker, invisible electrical charges around them can produce the pollutant-catching oxidants hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxyl (HO2), which can also remove gases such as methane and carbon monoxide from the atmosphere.

“Initially, we looked at these huge OH and HO2 signals found in the clouds and asked, what is wrong with our instrument?” says meteorologist William Brune, from Penn State University.

“We assumed there was noise in the instrument, so we removed the huge signals from the dataset and shelved them for later study.”

These 2012 readings were taken from a NASA plane flying over Colorado and Oklahoma, measuring the anvil (or top portion) of storm clouds. The recent analysis, plus data gathered on the ground at the same time, showed that the lightning was indeed producing these high levels of oxidants.

Classic shape of an anvil cloud. (Hussein Kefel/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A series of lab simulations backed up the idea that both visible lightning and invisible electrical charges in the air could produce extreme amounts of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals. However, in the air they detected little to no additional nitric oxide and ozone produced from the type of lightning you can actually see in the sky, and lab results were uncertain on these molecules too.

It’s worth bearing in mind that most lightning bolts never strike the ground, but are nevertheless setting off a multitude of chemical reactions in the clouds.

At the moment, the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl produced by lightning isn’t included in atmospheric modeling – an omission that could be significant.

“Through history, people were only interested in lightning bolts because of what they could do on the ground,” says Brune. “Now there is increasing interest in the weaker electrical discharges in thunderstorms that lead to lightning bolts.”

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the data, the researchers admit – mostly because their data is from a small part of the world over a limited time frame – but they estimate that between 2-16 percent of global atmospheric oxidation could be caused by lightning storms.

As the planet gets warmer, thunderstorms and lightning strikes are likely to become more common, which will in turn affect the balance of greenhouse gases in the air – perhaps much more than scientists had thought up to this point.

Now that we know more about what’s happening, the next stage in the research will be to take measurements of these effects in places that aren’t Oklahoma and Colorado – and it sounds likely there’s plenty more to discover.

“Most thunderstorms are in the tropics,” says Brune. “The whole structure of high plains storms is different than those in the tropics. Clearly we need more aircraft measurements to reduce this uncertainty.”

The research has been published in Science and the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

#Environment