Mysterious light in the sky above Serbia: Should we be afraid?

Mysterious light in the sky above Serbia: Should we be afraid?

Some have managed to record this unique phenomenon.

Professor Vladan Ducić, Ph.D., noted that as a professional who studies these phenomena, nothing is unusual for him, and that the aurora borealis over Belgrade could be seen in 2000, on April 6 and 7.

"As far as bad weather and strong winds are concerned, that has happened before. The only question is whether it is more intense or less, where, how and what. That is another question," the professor added to RTS.

"The aurora borealis and strong winds are not related phenomena. The aurora borealis occurs as the light of particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which are hundreds of kilometers above us," he explained. He also added:

"Under the influence of the solar wind, the electrons of oxygen and nitrogen are excited and they emit light. That's what happens. When it comes to oxygen, it emits red light, and when it comes to nitrogen, which dominates the atmosphere, then it has different colors".

Supercell storms and tornadoes

"Supercell storms are just a modern term that has come into use now, and has been used in meteorology for many years," Ducić explained.

"I was lucky enough to study the occurrence of tornadoes back in 1992. At that time there were no satellites and modern devices and we did it, as they say, on foot. We investigated the occurrence near Valjevo and we had reports from the newspapers. It was written that houses riddled as if by a machine gun. So, it was suspicious to me. We were lucky that it was near Petnica and there is a research station there. We organized a team, went on the field and investigated," said the professor.

They found that the path of the tornado was about one kilometer, and the width of the collapse was about 250 meters. The wind speed was from 250 to 300 kilometers per hour.

Reason to worry?

Professor Vladan Ducić pointed out that our fear of climate change is not something climatology deals with. What it can offer are official reports and data.

"It is certain that there is no increase in the frequency of tropical storms, i.e. hurricanes. It has been established that this does not happen, even though there is an increase in temperature. It means that the matter is more and more complicated, that there is a so-called phenomenon of vorticity, which stops the appearance and dimensions, etc. Regarding these extratropical storms of ours, which also occur here in Europe, the only thing that has been determined is that there is a high probability that the paths have shifted to the north. But there is no increased frequency," he emphasized.

"As for the higher frequency during this year, it is related to the El Niño phenomenon, a warm current in the Pacific Ocean that caused an increase in temperature and an increase in evaporation. More water vapor in the air, and warm air can hold more water vapor, and then that, very likely, greatly influenced the increase in intensity," Professor Vladan Ducić concluded for RTS.