Skyfire Spectacle: Lightning Unleashed Over Türkiye
Flashes of light illuminated the textures of cloud tops during a nighttime storm over the region. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took…
Lightning News
Lightning is a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage that occurs between clouds, between a cloud and the air, or between a cloud and the ground. This spectacular phenomenon is part of a thunderstorm and typically occurs when warm, moist air rises and creates electrical charges in storm clouds. The separation of positive and negative charges within the cloud, or between the cloud and ground, results in the buildup of electrical potential. When this potential exceeds the insulating capacity of the air, it breaks down and results in a discharge: lightning. The rapid heating and cooling of air near the lightning channel causes a shock wave that manifests as thunder. Beyond its dramatic visual and auditory displays, lightning is significant for its impacts on atmospheric chemistry, such as the production of nitrogen oxides, and its role in the Earth’s nitrogen cycle. It can also pose serious threats to life and property, leading to wildfires, power outages, and damage to structures.
Boreal Forests at Risk: Lightning-Induced Wildfires Threaten Crucial Carbon Storage
Research indicates an increased threat of lightning-induced wildfires in boreal forests due to climate change, potentially exacerbating global warming by destabilizing significant carbon stores in…
Increased Lightning Fires Threaten Boreal Forest Carbon Storage
Lightning is the dominant cause of wildfire ignition in boreal forests – areas of global importance for carbon storage – and will increase in frequency…
The Science of the 1000x Shock: Understanding Earth’s Most Intense “Superbolt” Lightning Strikes
When a storm’s charging zone sits close to the Earth’s surface, the resulting “superbolts” can be 1,000 times stronger than regular lightning. Superbolts are more…
High Flying Insights: NASA’s ER-2 Probes Thundercloud Mysteries
NASA’s ER-2 aircraft, as part of the ALOFT project, investigated lightning and related energy fields in the atmosphere in July 2023. This research aims to…
200,000 Lightning Flashes – Tonga’s Hunga Eruption Produced the Most Intense Lightning Ever Recorded
The eruption produced 2,600 flashes per minute at peak intensity. Scientists used the lightning to peer into the ash cloud, teasing out new details of…
Striking Discovery: Unique Image Reveals How Lightning Rods Work
The high-speed camera captured an image displaying multiple lightning rods attempting to connect to the downward discharge. The two descending branches visible in the image…
Stumping the Best Scientists for 50 Years: Physicists Solve a Lightning Mystery
Approximately 8.6 million lightning strikes take place each day all over the planet, each moving at a speed of more than 320,000 kilometers per hour…
Volcanic Lightning: The Science Behind This Spectacular Phenomenon
You’ve undoubtedly gazed out of the window to marvel at a lightning storm in all its glory. Thunderstorms are certainly a sight to behold, but…
A New Look at Earth’s Lightning – From a Sensor Installed on the International Space Station
A sensor installed on the International Space Station is yielding fresh insights into the global distribution of lightning. Satellite data from the ISS LIS has…
Harnessing Thor’s Hammer: Forensic Science Is Unlocking the Mysteries of Fatal Lightning Strikes
Scientists in South African and the UK have found the smoking gun in forensic lightning pathology that could help save lives threatened by the increase…
Lightning Impacts Edge of Space in Ways Not Previously Observed
Solar flares jetting out from the sun and thunderstorms generated on Earth impact the planet’s ionosphere in different ways, which have implications for the ability…
Lightning Strikes Will More Than Double in Arctic As Climate Warms, Driving Increased Wildfires and Warming
University of California, Irvine-led team reports that an increase in lightning will drive both wildfires and warming above Arctic Circle. In 2019, the National Weather…
Lightning Strikes Played a Vital Role – Just As Important as Meteorites – in Life’s Origins on Earth
Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge on Earth, geologists say. Minerals delivered to Earth…
AI Predicts Where and When Lightning Will Strike – Can Even Issue Alerts Before Storm Has Formed
Researchers at EPFL have developed a novel way of predicting lightning strikes to the nearest 10 to 30 minutes and within a radius of 30…
How Gamma-Rays from Lightning Produce Radioisotopes and Positrons
A storm system approaches: the sky darkens, and the low rumble of thunder echoes from the horizon. Then without warning… Flash! Crash! — lightning has…
Schumann Resonance Could Help Reveal the Solar System’s Origins
In 2011 researchers realized that they could use NASA’s Vector Electric Field Instrument aboard the Air Force’s Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System satellite to detect Schumann…
Laser Beams Used to Create Filament Paths Could Potentially Direct Lightning
Lasers beams have been used for the first time to trigger and divert lightning bolts. It was first postulated in the 1990s that lasers could…