Surreal photos show how storms and natural disasters are changing the color of sky around the world

The sky turned green during a derecho in South Dakota (L). The sky turned orange during wildfires in California.Tanner Schaaf/Joan Gamell

• The sky's default color is blue, but sometimes it looks purple, green, or even orange.
• Powerful storms and disasters, from tornadoes to wildfires, are creating surreal colors in the sky.

When the sky turned green in July from a massive thunderstorm known as a derecho in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, storm chaser Tanner Schaffer told Insider he'd never seen anything like it.

Stormy skies in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in July 2020.      Courtesy of Tanner Schaaf

Source: Tanner Schaaf/Instagram, National Weather Service

We don't know exactly why thunderstorms can turn the sky green, but we do know that climate change is linked to storms becoming bigger and more dangerous, as Insider and Yale Climate Connections reported.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in July 2020.      Courtesy of Tanner Schaaf

Sources: Tanner Schaff, National Weather Service, Insider, Yale Climate Connections

In 2018, parts of the sky turned a similar green during a severe hail storm captured by photographer John Finney.

Storm chasers gather to watch a severe hail storm works its way across the high plains of Kansas in 2018.      john finney photography/Getty Images

Source: John Finney Photography

Unseasonable, larger, and more severe storms as a result of climate change are linked to the sky turning colors similar to that of a "dead planet," as Insider reported.

Stunning stormy skies with a rush of traffic trying to escape a severe hail storm in Kansas.      john finney photography/Getty Images

Source: Insider

In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis turned Japan's skies purple and pink. This is due to a combination of light bouncing off the water and the sun setting, The Weather Channel reports.

Typhoon skies photographed from Suzuka Circuit in Japan in October 2019.      Courtesy of Ujvári Máté

Source: Ujvári Máté/Instagram, Weather Channel

Earlier this year, sand storms in the Sahara desert in Africa brought dusty orange skies to Strasbourg, France, Anadolu Agency reported.

Orange skies in Strasbourg, France, in March 2022.      AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

Source: Anadolu Agency

In 2015, Dubai saw even more saturated orange skies from a sandstorm in the city, BBC News reported.

Dubai amid a sandstorm in April 2015.      MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP via Getty Images

Source: BBC News

In 2020, San Francisco saw bright orange and red skies as nearly 100 wildfires burned across the west, Wired reported. The orange hue comes from the smoke, according to the same source.

San Francisco in September 2020.      Courtesy of Joan Gamell

Sources: Joan Gamell, Wired

Seeing the sky turn bizarre, apocalyptic colors could help people take climate change a little more seriously, Insider reported.

San Francisco in September 2020.      Samarth Mehta

Source: Samarth Mehta/Instagram, Insider