Lightning strikes will become more common because of global warming, said researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lightning strikes occur 25 million times a year. Researchers believe this phenomenon will increase by 12 percent for each degree Celsius that global temperatures rise.

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According to David Romps from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, warming tends to make thunderstorms more explosive. Water vapor is affected since it's the fuel for the explosive deep convection in the atmosphere that conducts electricity.

Over 1,000 people worldwide are struck by lightning every year. These lightning strikes are fatal to dozens. Apart from killing people, lightning causes property damage and ignites wildfires.

With global warming, lightning strikes can become 50 percent more common over the course of the next 100 years, according to modern climate models.

Another factor that makes lightning strikes more prevalent is the presence of nitrous oxide formed during extremely high temperatures. This gas is produced from the natural nitrogen cycle of living creatures. It accounts for six percent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

Nitrous oxide gas molecules remain in the atmosphere for about 120 years until they're destroyed by other chemicals.

Lightning is produced between two clouds with different electrical charges or between clouds and the ground. The charge increases when the uplift of water vapor and ice also increases. This power is measured as Convective Available Potential Energy or CAPE.

As the resistance of air decreases due to atmospheric conditions, a lightning bolt will form. Computer generated simulations have shown how lightning is formed.

The rise of global temperatures could increase the power of these updrafts, producing clouds with greater electrical charges causing lightning to become more frequent than ever before.

This study was published in the journal, Science.

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