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Lightning could play an important role in flushing pollutants out of the atmosphere. Observations from a storm-chasing airplane reveal that lightning can forge lots of air-cleansing chemicals called oxidants. Oxidants help clear the air by reacting with contaminants like methane to form molecules that are more water-soluble or stickier, allowing them to more easily rain out of Earth’s atmosphere or stick to its surface. Researchers knew lightning produces nitric oxide, which can lead to the formation of oxidants such as hydroxyl radicals. But no one had seen lightning directly create lots of these oxidants.