Thunderstorms Are Killing Millions of Tropical Trees, and World Is Missing It

If you believe drought and heat are the primary threats to tropical forests, you may want to reconsider. Scientists now say thunderstorms may be killing more trees than any other climate-related factor. That’s a problem for all of us. These forests help slow climate change by pulling carbon dioxide from the air. When trees die, that carbon goes back into the atmosphere.

A new study says frequent thunderstorms are now a leading cause of tree death in the Amazon. Until now, they have largely gone unnoticed. And that matters for you, because tropical forests help slow down climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide. If those trees keep dying, more carbon stays in the air, making global warming worse.

What’s going on?

Scientists have long blamed drought, rising temperatures, wildfires, and deforestation for tree loss in the tropics. But this new research says small, intense storms, called convective storms, are doing more damage than anyone realised.

Published on July 1 in Ecology Letters, the study shows that these storms may be responsible for up to 50 percent of the increase in tree deaths across the Amazon. That number could be even higher depending on how you look at the data.

“These storms are fast and local, but they can take down huge trees in seconds,” said Evan Gora, a forest ecologist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and lead author of the study.

“They’ve flown under the radar for years. Now we’re learning they might be the main reason trees are dying.”

What exactly are convective storms?

They’re short-lived, intense storms that cover small areas. They bring strong winds, lightning, and sudden bursts of rain. Unlike hurricanes or typhoons, they don't get named or tracked. But they hit often, and hard.

“Being in the forest during a tropical storm is unforgettable,” said study co-author Vanessa Rubio. “As the storm quickly builds, the sky darkens, humidity changes drastically, and strong winds shake the trees.

“Then, thunder and lightning come. Leaves and branches fall to the ground, rain pours down, and your instinct is to get back to the field station as quickly as possible.”

Tropical forests store huge amounts of carbon. They also soak up about 45 percent of all fossil fuel emissions each year. When storms kill trees, they reduce this “carbon sponge” effect. Dead trees release carbon instead of storing it. 

The study found that when researchers added storms to carbon models, the usual link between temperature rise and carbon loss disappeared.

“It changes the whole picture,” Gora said. “You need to count storms if you want accurate climate predictions.”

Lightning is deadly, too

It’s not just the wind. Lightning alone kills billions of trees every year. A single strike can hit dozens of trees at once. Many die slowly, making the damage hard to track.

Researchers estimate that 35 to 67 million lightning strikes hit tropical forests annually. That could mean hundreds of millions of dead trees each year.

One study in Panama found that just one lightning strike killed 3.5 trees on average. Bigger trees were more likely to die. And losing those big trees hurts forests the most. They store more carbon and help maintain the ecosystem.

Storms are harder to study than droughts or fires. Drought and heat leave clear signs. Scientists can track them by satellite or weather stations. Storms come and go fast. Damage is scattered. Satellites often miss it. It’s hard to measure the full impact unless you're on the ground right after it happens.

Gora said that because storms are so localized, they often get ignored in global climate models.

That’s a problem if those models guide climate policy.

To fix that gap, researchers launched the Gigante project, led by the University of Birmingham and the Cary Institute. They use drones, lightning trackers, and field teams to monitor tree deaths in real time.

The goal: spot which trees are dying, where, and why.

“If we choose the wrong tree species to plant or protect, we may not see that mistake until decades later,” Gora warned. “We need better data to make better decisions.”

Storms are getting more frequent. The study found a 5 to 25 percent rise in storm activity every decade over the last 50 years.

And when storms and drought hit the same forest, the damage is worse. That’s already happening in parts of the Amazon, where trees face both dry spells and deadly storms.

Ian McGregor, another researcher, said this gap in understanding must be closed,

“I never learned about these storms as a threat to forests. They weren’t in our textbooks or policy tools. But now we know, they matter.”

Why it matters to you

Tropical forests aren’t just remote jungles. They’re a key part of the global climate system. If tree deaths keep rising, forests will absorb less carbon. That means more heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere.

And that affects weather, food supply, and air quality, everywhere. The study’s takeaway is clear: To protect forests and fight climate change, we can’t ignore storms anymore.

More storms are hitting tropical forests than ever before. And scientists now say these storms may be killing more trees than drought, heat, or wildfires. This matters because tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon. When trees die, that carbon gets released. That means more heat in the atmosphere and faster climate change.

For years, researchers focused on drought and rising temperatures. But this new study shows that storms, especially those with lightning, play a much bigger role than anyone thought. You can’t ignore storms anymore. They break trees, uproot forests, and damage large areas quickly. And they’re becoming more frequent.

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