(ECNS) -- A long-running citizen science project that encouraged the public to collect hailstones in exchange for agates has contributed to a major climate research breakthrough published in the journal Nature.
Peking University announced on Wednesday that a study titled "Rising global hail damage potential in a warming world" has been published in Nature and selected as the cover article of the issue.
Since 2016, a research team led by Professor Zhang Qinghong from Peking University has been collecting and preserving hailstone samples through public participation. Around 2021, the team launched a creative "Hail for Agate" initiative, inviting people across China to contribute hail samples in exchange for agate, turning the project into a nationwide citizen science initiative.
According to the project team, participants are required to collect hailstone samples that meet certain standards in terms of appearance, size, and quantity. The samples must be properly preserved and recorded.
After contacting the research team, contributors receive a visit from researchers equipped with portable freezing equipment to retrieve the samples.
The initiative gained additional attention following a severe hailstorm in Beijing in May 2025, when hailstones as large as duck eggs struck parts of the city.
Those small ice balls that people carefully collected and stored in their refrigerators provided crucial materials for an important scientific study, Peking University said Wednesday.
The study found that future hailstorms could become significantly more destructive. Compared with historical climate conditions, the probability of smaller hailstones under 30 millimeters is projected to decline 4% to 12%, while the likelihood of large hailstones exceeding 30 millimeters could surge 38% to 52%.
The research team used the extensive sample database and advanced climate modeling to examine how hail hazards may evolve under global warming.
As a result, the overall destructive energy of hail near the Earth's surface is expected to rise by 37 to 42 percent globally. The study also found that higher carbon emissions are associated with greater hail damage potential and increased disaster risks.
The increase is expected to be particularly pronounced in mid- and high-latitude regions, although risks may vary across tropical and monsoon-affected areas due to differences in atmospheric moisture and hail growth conditions.
The study provides scientific evidence for future hail risk assessment and disaster preparedness planning, researchers said.
The publication drew enthusiastic responses online. Some users joked that by missing the hailstone collection drive, they had missed their chance to contribute to a Nature paper. Others quipped that hailstones had fulfilled their dream of publishing in the journal.
(By Gong Weiwei)
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