This invited talk by Handel, presented at the 2007 AGU General Assembly, examines giant dipole moments of submicron ice crystallites nucleated on dust particles as the cause of polarization catastrophe and sprites. The research proposes that ice crystals forming on aerosol particles in high-altitude clouds develop enormous electric dipole moments that drive the polarization catastrophe mechanism of thunderstorm electrification and also explains the generation of mesospheric sprites (transient luminous events above thunderstorms) through sudden electromagnetic pulses from lightning discharges.