![]() When the lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged, objects in the air and on the ground below become positively charged. Those charges in the clouds can cause changes on the ground. As such, Price likens a storm cloud to a battery standing on end. At the same time, the large hail and water droplets at the cloud’s bottom tend to become negatively charged. Those tiny ice crystals at the top tend to become positively charged. Large ones sink to the bottom of the cloud. Water droplets, ice and hail come in a range of sizes. And when it gains an electron, it gains a negative charge. ![]() When an uncharged object loses an electron, it is left with an overall positive charge. Electrons are responsible for electricity. These collisions can pry particles called electrons from the water drops and ice as they rise to the top of the cloud. Scientists suspect that turbulence within a cloud - strong vertical winds - causes the cloud’s water droplets, snow, hail and ice particles to smash into each other. But most of it in the upper atmosphere comes from Earth’s surface. “Some gets vented out the top of storms,” he says of the water vapor. He’s an atmospheric scientist at Tel Aviv University in Israel. “Thunderstorms are like huge vacuum cleaners that suck up water vapor,” says Colin Price. That warm moist air is lighter than cooler dry air, so it rises to form giant cumulonimbus clouds. Water vapor evaporates from lakes, seas and plants. It begins when heat from the sun warms Earth’s surface. Scientists now know that the visible, bright bolt and roaring thunder are just a small part of a much bigger sequence of natural events that unfolds in the clouds. Lightning can move from cloud to cloud or from a cloud to the ground. The early Hindus believed the god Indra controlled lightning.īut over time, people began associating lightning less with supernatural forces and more with nature. In the myths of ancient Greece, Zeus threw lightning from atop Mount Olympus. In ancient Norse mythology, the hammer-wielding god Thor hurled lightning bolts at his enemies. Thousands of years ago, people associated lightning’s sparks with angry gods. Some researchers even suspect lightning could be used as a tool to better understand the global climate - if they only knew how to wield it. However, scientists are still struggling to understand exactly how a spark starts and how to predict where it might connect with the ground. And they have created lightning in the laboratory. They’ve tracked flashes using sensors on the ground and in space, including one on the International Space Station. Researchers have looked for common threads in the stories of lightning’s victims. More importantly, they want to know where - or who - lightning is likely to hit. For centuries, scientists have been trying to understand what triggers lightning. Overall, that means that on average, lightning strikes about one in every 700,000 people there each year.Īlthough dangerous, lightning also is one of nature’s most dazzling displays. In 2012, 28 people died from lightning in the United States. ![]() But lightning does injure about 240,000 people and kill 24,000 each year, according to a 2003 study. Most of those strikes don’t touch anyone. Jeff De La Beaujardiere, Scientific Visualization StudioĪround the world, lightning occurs about 100 times every second of every day. Central Africa is subject to the most lightning polar regions see the least. Areas with warmer colors (red and yellow) receive more lightning per square kilometer than regions in blue. ![]() This heat map highlights lightning strikes around the world. ![]() That’s energetic enough to break the molecules in the air into individual atoms. Lightning heats the air to nearly 28,000° Celsius (50,000° Fahrenheit). Within minutes, lightning would injure Sean - and kill another hiker nearby.īeing struck by lightning is very unlikely but very dangerous. ![]()
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