The Power of Lightning

Lightning has always been an interesting subject, in my opinion. I remember watching lightning storms when I was a child, and being so amazed by the power of this natural occurrence.

The most common name for the type of lightning we see all the time is known as streak lightning. Most bolts of lightning are about one mile long. According to studies lightning strikes the earth approximately 100 times every second. Lightning occurs during thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, and sometimes dust storms. The theory goes that ice forms inside clouds causing a mixture of positive and negative forces producing lightning. An average bolt of lightning contains enough energy to power a 100 Watt light bulb for about two months.

Bead lightning is very rare, and gets its name as it basically looks like a string of beads. Ribbon lightning appears during thunderstorms with high cross winds. The wind blows the lightning to make it look like a flowing ribbon. Ball lightning is just as it sounds, a large ball of eliminated light that travels from the sky. These lightning balls look like balls of fire, and one ball has been known to split into two and merged together again. Rocket lightning comes from the base of the cloud, the movement has been compared to that of a Skyrocket.

Sap in trees is a poor conductor of lightning. As lightning strikes the tree the sap is heated to such an extent that it turns into steam. So much heat is present that it causes the bark to be blown off the tree. Sometimes the tree will nor recover from a lightning strike, it will decay and eventually die. Other times however the tree will be able to repair itself thus surviving. Pine, Oak and Elm trees are the most commonly hit. Pine trees are favored due to the sheer height and also the fact that their needles have a high electrical discharge.

Lightning is also a danger to humans and animals. While I was doing some research I found out that lightning can go right into water killing any fish that are close to the surface. This is something I hadn't really thought about before. We all know it is powerful enough to knock down trees, and it's a well known fact that humans have been killed by lightning strikes, but did you ever stop to think about the animals, and sea life that have been killed? I can't say that I really thought of the fact that lightning can actually penetrate water, and kill, or do damage to fish. It certainly is one of the world's most powerful, destructive, natural occurrences.

People have been killed, or injured up to 30 yards away from where the lightning has actually struck. There was a reported case at Deerfield Beach, Florida of a diver killed by a lightning strike. He surfaced about 10 meters away from his boat when suddenly lightning struck his oxygen tank. Central Florida has the highest amount of lightning in the US. Another amazing fact is The Empire States building was once struck eight times within 24 minutes.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning