The Art of Survival

Lightning - what is lightning and how to act during a thunderstorm

Lightning is a spark discharge of the electrostatic charge of a cumulus cloud, accompanied by a blinding flash and a sharp sound (thunder).

Danger. Lightning discharge is characterized by high currents, and its temperature reaches 300,000 degrees. When struck by lightning, a tree splits and can even catch fire. Wood splitting occurs as a result of an internal explosion due to the instantaneous evaporation of the internal moisture of the wood.

A direct lightning strike for a person is usually fatal. About 3,000 people die from lightning every year worldwide.

Precautionary measures before a thunderstorm

To reduce the risk of lightning damage to economic facilities, buildings and structures, lightning protection is arranged in the form of grounded metal masts and wires stretched high above the facilities of the facility.

Check the weather forecast before your trip. If a thunderstorm is predicted, then reschedule the trip to another day. If you notice a storm front, then first of all determine approximate distance before it by the delay time of the first clap of thunder, the first flash of lightning, and also evaluate whether the front is approaching or receding.

Since the speed of light is huge (300,000 km / s), we observe a flash of lightning instantly. Therefore, the sound delay will be determined by the distance and speed of sound (about 340 m/s). We must multiply the time in seconds from the lightning flash to the first roll by 340 - and we will get the distance in meters to the thunder front.

Example: if after the flash 5 seconds have passed before the thunder, then the distance to the thunder front is 340 m/s x 5s = 1700 meters. If over time the delay of sound increases, then the storm front is moving away, and if the delay of sound is reduced, and the thunder ceases to be rolling and resembles a dry crack, then the storm front is approaching. The louder the thunder on flat ground, the further the thunderstorm.

How to act during a thunderstorm

Lightning is dangerous when a flash of thunder IMMEDIATELY follows, and thunder has practically no peals. In this case, take immediate precautions.

If you are in countryside: Close windows, doors, chimneys and vents. Do not fire up the stove because the high temperature gases coming out of the stovepipe have low resistance. Do not talk on the phone: lightning sometimes hits wires stretched between poles.

During lightning strikes, do not come close to electrical wiring, lightning rods, roof drains, antennas, do not stand near the window, if possible, turn off the TV, radio and other electrical appliances.

If you are in a forest, then take cover in a stunted area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe forest. Stay away from tall trees, especially pines, oaks, and poplars.

Do not stay in a body of water or on its shore. Move away from the shore, go down from an elevated place to a lowland.

In the steppe, field or in the absence of shelter (building) do not lie down on the ground, substituting electric current your whole body, and squat down in a hollow, ravine or other natural depression, clasping your legs with your hands.

If a thunderstorm overtook you while playing sports, then immediately stop them. Put metal objects (motorcycle, bicycle, ice ax, etc.) aside, move away from them by 20-30 m.

If a thunderstorm caught you in the car, do not leave it, while closing the windows and lower the radio antenna. If the car is dry, it will be able to withstand a lightning strike, protecting you.

Where and why does lightning strike?

2008. Yulia Kaftanova. I will explain more on my own. When a thunderstorm front moves, a huge potential difference is formed due to air friction between the earth and clouds. The phenomenon is somewhat similar to a giant natural capacitor that accumulates energy.

Therefore, weather-sensitive people may feel bad before a thunderstorm, even if it passed nearby, electrical interference may be observed in the operation of thin electrical appliances, and the radio signal may not pass through a thunderstorm front.

A discharge of static electricity usually follows the path of least electrical resistance - along an ionized channel laid by a "running leader" (like along a wire). Since the distance between the highest object, among similar ones, and a cumulus cloud is smaller, it means less and electrical resistance. Consequently, lightning will strike first of all a tall object (mast, tree, etc.).

Most lightning and electrical discharges occur between thunderclouds and within thunder cloud- about 80%. But the power of electric discharges between the earth and the clouds is incomparably greater, since the potential difference "between heaven and earth" is much higher.

After the accumulation of a critical static charge, a small charge (micro-ball lightning) flows down from a thundercloud - the so-called "running leader" and moves towards the ground at a speed of about 20 m/s. Along the way, it forms an ionized channel, it can split and divide - then the lightning branches.

As soon as it reaches the ground or high subject, which has a static charge of electricity, an instantaneous multiple electrical discharge. We see it as a single very bright "solid" lightning, but at a distance we hear thunder peals, since from 10-15 to 80 and even 100 in an extremely rare cases. You can count the number of thunder peals at a distance of 2 km from lightning.

"Running Leader" is an ionized charge of electricity flowing down from a thundercloud. The photo at the top of the page shows very clearly how "running leaders" are flowing down from the storm front, leaving behind a dimly lit branched channel. And a bright powerful channel "from earth to sky" with a flash on a cloud, through which a direct lightning discharge occurs, is very clearly visible. All such active channels at the entrance to the thundercloud are very brightly illuminated, but the exit of the "running leader" from the cloud itself is not yet.

On the fourth lightning bolt from the left, it is very clearly seen that a powerful discharge strikes along the channel from the ground and has not yet reached the fork. And the "weak" discharge at the top right is the movement of the "running leader" from the cloud. At the end of the leftmost fork of the third lightning bolt from the left one can even see a very bright "running leader" in the form of a dotted small ball.

For those who believe that a lightning discharge strikes from a cloud into the ground, and widely disseminates this incorrect information on the Internet, I strongly advise you to read higher physics- In the 20th century, with the active advent of photography into our lives, the phenomenon of lightning was very well described.

On my own, I can make an assumption about the nature of ball lightning: the mysterious ball lightning can turn out to be a very large "running leader", which is able to see the naked eye of a person (and not just fix a special photograph), behind which the ionized channel has completely closed, and therefore a full-fledged lightning discharge has become impossible.

If the "running leader" turned out to be "weak" and collapsed before it fully formed the ionized channel, the lightning discharge does not occur. Most "running leaders" exits do not end in a lightning strike. The "running leader", which forms the usual lightning "between heaven and earth", lives for about 50-80 seconds, since it needs time to reach the surface.

"Running leader", followed immediately by an electrical discharge and lightning, on special photos resembles a small bright spark and is a bunch of ionized gas (a bunch of low-temperature plasma). It was by photographing lightning and what happens immediately before the discharge that a discovery was made in the 20th century that correctly describes the phenomenon of lightning.

If the "running leader" turned out to be very large in size, he begins to meet more significant resistance. environment, the speed of its movement slows down sharply, the ionized channel behind it has time to completely or partially close. Therefore, a full-fledged lightning discharge does not occur, and we can observe the phenomenon of ball lightning (for example, in the zone of a tornado and a tornado, as in the photo). In an effort to occupy the smallest volume, the substance in the plasma state takes on a spherical shape (the area of ​​the outer surface of the ball is minimal among other bodies at a fixed volume).

In fact, there are three phase states describing different behavior mathematical model"running leader" - the formation of a "running leader" that did not end with any discharge (more than 99%), a "running leader" who was "lucky" and who managed to completely form an ionized channel, the movement of which ended with a lightning discharge (less than 1%), and "overgrowth", behind which the ionized channel partially or completely closed, and it formed ball lightning visible to the naked eye (extremely rare).

If we consider the phenomenon of a lightning discharge from the point of view of the theory of catastrophes that is fashionable today, then it is the lightning discharge that must be considered as a phase change in the state of the system of "natural capacitors". Only a lightning strike and a "running leader" who is "lucky" causes a step change in state electrical potentials thunderclouds and the earth's surface and, accordingly, can be considered as a "catastrophe". The moment of the beginning of the abrupt change of the state of the system is the moment when the "running leader" reaches another cloud or the surface of the earth (as well as a tree, a lightning rod, etc.).

The very moment of an abrupt change in the state of the system (that is, a lightning strike) can be described by a set of approximated delta functions in terms of the number of instantaneous electrical discharges, the argument is time.

Neither the "fruitless" "running leader", which did not end in a lightning discharge, nor, moreover, the "overgrown" ball lightning from the point of view of modern theory catastrophes do not cause an abrupt change in the state of "natural capacitors" - thunderclouds and the earth's surface. That is why ball lightning cannot be considered as a phenomenon that causes an abrupt change in the state of the system as a whole, because it does not entail a full-fledged lightning discharge with an ionized channel formed along the entire length.

In the extreme case, ball lightning, receiving energy from the outside (for example, from the powerful rotation of a tornado, as in the photo), entails local electric micro-discharges in its localized neighborhood. These micro-lightnings and electrical discharges pass through ionized channels localized in a certain neighborhood. If the ball lightning is not supplied with energy from the outside and the connection with the source is completely lost, then the ball lightning does not form local electrical discharges at all.

But one way or another, during its existence (from the moment of formation to the moment of destruction), the behavior of ball lightning is due exclusively to local changes in the state of the system and does not affect its global state and behavior in any way, unlike the usual lightning discharge.

Thunderstorm is an interesting phenomenon of nature. But everyone knows there is back side medals. A thunderstorm is not only beautiful lightning in the sky, but also a danger. The sky covered with dark blue clouds strong wind, thunder, flashes - all that we used to observe in this phenomenon. Many have probably wondered more than once: “Where does the fiery guest hit during a thunderstorm?”. You will find out the answer to this question later, but for now you should figure out how this happens.

Where does the flash come from?

Lightning is a natural phenomenon, which is accompanied by a huge spark.

It does not appear as close as we think. Everyone knows that the speed of light is a million times faster than the speed of sound. That is why we first see a flash, and only then hear a roar. How does she appear? Thunderstorm clouds form in the atmosphere. When the air heats up too much, the charged particles flock to one place and ignite. This is how lightning occurs. It also has a very high temperature.

Lightning direction

We are all used to seeing lightning strike from top to bottom. The channel through which the lightning passes is a fork, since the ionization of air occurs unevenly. Lightning, passing through this channel, also branches, so we are used to seeing a flash not in the form of a straight line, but similar to veins. main channel, through which the lightning passes, is called the leader. The branches formed from it go in the direction of the leader's movement. It is important to note that the leader cannot change his direction abruptly to the opposite. Current flows through the leader and its branches once it has connected to ground. Passing through the channels, the current beats in the direction several times. Thanks to this, we see that the lightning flickers.

Where does lightning strike?

The tension in the higher layers is always greater than in the lower ones. Therefore, you can see that the "heavenly guest" beats from top to bottom. If you compare lightning with a tree, then it will resemble its root system.

Sometimes it also happens that the current goes the other way around, that is, from the bottom up. If we compare it with a tree, then the leader and its branches will resemble a spreading crown. When lightning strikes from top to bottom, it seems as if it strikes from the sky into the ground. In the second case, we do not perceive that lightning strikes from the ground. Why is that? It's all about our perception. Lightning - fast process. Our eyes fixate on it as a whole, but we cannot observe the direction of current movement, and human perception is far from objective. human eyes cannot capture thousands of frames per second. Therefore, we perceive the whole picture.

If you look at a video camera capable of capturing these lightning-fast frames, you can see both ascending and descending current flows. How this process occurs is understandable, but where does lightning strike? We will look into this below.

Where does lightning strike and why?

Lightning strikes in those places where the layer between any object and a thundercloud will be the smallest. Many objects that are on the ground and conduct electricity well attract lightning. Where does lightning strike? It can get into a variety of places: trees, metal towers, poles, pipes, houses, buildings, planes, water, even a person. The higher the attraction of an object, the more likely it is to be struck by lightning. For example, take two adjacent pillars: wooden and metal. More likely to hit the second.

The fact is that metal objects conduct electricity much better. After a strike, the current from the ground will go much easier to the mast, since it is well connected to the ground. The larger the surface of the metal structure is connected to the ground, the greater the likelihood of a lightning strike. She often hits flat surface. But there will be a section where there is the greatest conductivity of the surface of the electric current.

For example, swamps are more likely to be struck by lightning than dry sand surfaces. Objects in the sky can also be hit. There are cases when lightning hit the plane. Severe danger to people in aircraft, it does not carry, but it is quite capable of incapacitating equipment. Lightning poses a great danger to people who are in the house during a thunderstorm. It would seem, why is it so, because the person is protected? However, an unplugged TV, a working mobile phone, can easily attract current, which is dangerous for humans.

There are cases when he struck a person on the street. Lightning strikes men more often than women. In the countryside, it can strike anywhere. Where does lightning strike in the city? As mentioned, it hits objects that easily conduct current, are well connected to the ground. It will high buildings, towers. Fortunately, lightning rods have been invented, which are widely used in big cities. For a man lightning - dangerous phenomenon. That is why you should follow all safety rules and know how to behave during a thunderstorm.

Myth and only

Information about where lightning strikes most often has become clear. Now I want to dispel the myth that lightning does not strike the same place twice. Beats. Lightning can strike the same object multiple times.

A thunderstorm in summer is a common and dangerous phenomenon. You need to know how to protect yourself during a thunderstorm, what to do in order not to be struck by lightning, how to escape from ball lightning, where lightning strikes ... Tambov region strongly recommends that you remember two basic rules of behavior during a thunderstorm: avoid open area and avoid water.

With the formation of powerful cumulonimbus, tower-shaped clouds at any point on the horizon of a thunderstorm, one should carefully observe the development of clouds. It must be remembered that the wind does not give correct presentation about the direction of the thunderstorm. Thunderstorms often go against the wind!

The distance to an approaching thunderstorm can be determined by counting the seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of the first roll of thunder:

• a second pause means that a thunderstorm is at a distance of 300-400 m,
• three-second - 1 km,
• four-second - 1.3 km, etc.

Thunderstorm is one of the most dangerous for humans. natural phenomena . An instantaneous lightning strike can cause paralysis, profound loss of consciousness, respiratory and cardiac arrest. When struck by lightning, specific burns remain on the body of the affected person in the form of reddish stripes and burns with blisters. In order not to suffer from a lightning strike, you need to know and follow some rules of behavior during a thunderstorm.

What is lightning

Lightning is a high voltage electrical discharge, great strength current, high power and very high temperature that occurs in nature. Electrical discharges that occur between cumulus clouds or between a cloud and the ground are accompanied by thunder, heavy rain, often hail and squally winds. There are many types of lightning. AT middle lane the most common are linear and ball lightning. They differ in appearance but equally dangerous to humans.

What to do during a thunderstorm

Summer thunderstorms are common, but not everyone knows how to protect yourself during a thunderstorm, what to do in order not to be struck by lightning.

Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Tambov region give a number of simple tips, what to do during a thunderstorm:

• First, during a thunderstorm, you should avoid open areas.. Lightning, as you know, strikes at the highest point, a lone person in the field - this is the very point. If for some reason you are left alone in the field with a thunderstorm, hide in any possible recess: a groove, a hollow or the lowest place in the field, squat down and bend your head, rescuers advise.
• Second, avoid water during thunderstorms. because it is an excellent current conductor. The lightning strike spreads around the reservoir within a radius of 100 meters. Often she hits the shore. Therefore, during a thunderstorm, it is necessary to move away from the coast, you can not swim and fish.
• It is very dangerous to speak during a thunderstorm. mobile phone . It is best to turn off cell phones during thunderstorms. There were cases when an incoming call caused a lightning strike.
• During a thunderstorm, it is advisable to get rid of metal objects. Watches, chains, and even an umbrella opened over your head are potential targets for a strike. There are known cases of lightning strikes on a bunch of keys in your pocket.

So that lightning does not strike if you are in the forest

Lightning in a forest almost never strikes the ground, with the exception of clearings, because trees are natural lightning rods, and the probability of lightning hitting a particular tree is directly proportional to its height. So stay away from tall trees. The most competent option is to sit between undersized trees with dense crowns. At the same time, determine the approximate height of the trees you have chosen and try to place them at a distance not exceeding this height. Let's say the height of the trees is about 4-5 meters, respectively, it is necessary to place between them so that each of the trees is at least 4-5 meters away. This is called the "cone of protection". It is better to sit in the so-called "fetal position" - the back is bent, the head is lowered on the legs and forearms bent at the knees, the feet are joined together.

1. That most often lightning strikes oaks, poplars, elms.
2. Less often, lightning strikes spruce, pine.
3. Very rarely lightning strikes birches, maples.

During a thunderstorm in the forest it is impossible: choose a shelter tall trees or in trees previously struck by a thunderstorm, split (the abundance of trees struck by lightning indicates that the soil in this area has a high electrical conductivity, and a lightning strike in this area is very likely), you can not put up tents on open space, sit by a burning fire (smoke is a good conductor of electricity).

So that lightning does not strike if you are in the field

At the first sign of an approaching thunderstorm, you need to: move as quickly as possible towards the nearest reliable shelter (forest, village), moving away from separate trees or groves at the same time. If a standalone tree is located on your way to the village, don't go there. Priority is the distance from the possible zones of the discharge. You need to move away at least 150-200 m. With the onset of a thunderstorm, if you still haven’t reached the shelter: you need to sit down as low as possible, and when the thunderstorm comes very close, lie down on the ground. And lie quietly, humbly, motionless. It should be remembered that sandy and stone soils are safer than clay soils. And do not rush to move when the storm starts to leave - wait 20-30 minutes after the last lightning struck.

During a thunderstorm in the field it is impossible: move, especially walk, straightened up; hide in haystacks, under lonely standing trees or islands of trees, especially touch them with hands and other parts of the body. human psychology is such that in a large and powerful one he tends to see protection. In a thunderstorm, the reverse law works: the smaller you are, the more chances you have not to fall under the category. Therefore, we go around the trees.

So that lightning does not strike if you are near a reservoir

If a thunderstorm approaches, leave the pond immediately and move as far as possible from coastline. A person on a boat, when a thunderstorm approaches, should immediately land on the shore. If this is not possible, drain the boat, change into dry clothes, if available, raise a protective awning, place a life jacket, boots, equipment, etc. under you. electrically insulating objects, cover with polyethylene in such a way that rainwater flows overboard, not into the watercraft, but at the same time polyethylene should not come into contact with water!

During a thunderstorm near a pond, you can’t: climb into the water, take cover in floodplain bushes and under trees.

So that lightning does not strike if you are in the mountains

In mountainous areas, when a thunderstorm approaches, one should try to descend from hills - ridges, hills, passes, peaks, etc. It is dangerous to be near watercourses (crevices, gutters, etc.), since during a thunderstorm even small cracks filled with water become a conductor for electricity to drain. It is best to stop near a high vertical plumb ("finger"). In this case, the height of the plumb line should be at least 5-6 times more height person, respectively, the safety zone will be equal to the height of the plumb line, measured in horizontal plane. However, closer than 2 m to the wall should not be approached. You can hide in natural cave niches in the slope, but also no closer than 2 m from the wall. Metal objects - climbing hooks, ice axes, pots, collect in a backpack and lower on a rope 20-30 m down the slope.

During a thunderstorm in the mountains it is impossible: lean or touch when moving or resting against rocks, sheer walls, hiding under rocky overhangs.

So that lightning does not strike if you are in a car

The machine protects the people inside quite well, because even with a lightning strike, the discharge goes through the surface of the metal. Therefore, if a thunderstorm caught you in the car, close the windows, turn off the radio, cell phone and GPS-navigator. Do not touch door handles or other metal parts.

To avoid being struck by lightning if you are on a motorcycle

A bicycle and a motorcycle, unlike a car, will not save you from a thunderstorm. It is necessary to dismount, stow the vehicle and move about 30 m away from it.

When you are in a country or garden house during a thunderstorm, you should:

• Close doors and windows, exclude drafts.
• Do not heat the stove, close the chimney, because the smoke coming out of the chimney has a high electrical conductivity and can attract an electrical discharge.
• Turn off the TV, radio, electrical appliances, turn off the antenna.
• Turn off the means of communication: laptop, mobile phone.
• You should not be near a window or in the attic, as well as near massive metal objects.
• Do not be in open areas, near metal structures, power lines.
• Do not touch anything wet, iron, electrical.
• Remove all metal jewelry (chains, rings, earrings) from yourself, put it in a leather or plastic bag.
• Don't open your umbrella.
• Never seek shelter under large trees.
• It is not advisable to be near a fire.
• Stay away from wire fences.
• Don't go out to take off clothes that are drying on the clotheslines, as they also conduct electricity.
• Do not ride a bicycle or motorcycle.
• Don't swim, stay away from the water.
• It is very dangerous to talk on a mobile phone during a thunderstorm, it must be turned off.
• A thunderstorm usually hits the highest point on its path. Lonely man in the field - this is the same high point. It's even scarier to be in a thunderstorm on a lonely hill! If for some reason you are left alone in the field with a thunderstorm, hide in any possible recess: a groove, a hollow or the lowest place in the field, squat down and keep your head down. Lying on wet ground during a thunderstorm is not recommended.
• Never try to hide under a lone tree.
• During a thunderstorm, do not swim, do not fish, do not be near water bodies.

If a thunderstorm caught on the street:

How to escape from ball lightning

If you are at home during a thunderstorm or in any room, do not be near batteries, windows, electrical appliances, antennas, wires and metal objects. Close windows, doors, chimneys and vents to avoid drafts that attract fireballs.

Fireball appears as free-floating through the air horizontally or erratically glowing ball from a few centimeters to several meters in diameter. Ball lightning can exist from a few seconds to three tens of seconds. She has a great destructive force causing fires, severe burns and sometimes death of a person or animal. It appears unpredictably and also suddenly disappears. Penetrates even into a closed room through a switch, socket, pipe, keyhole.

Remember, if you have witnessed such a phenomenon as ball lightning, try not to move or run away from it. Lightning attracts moving, tall, metallic and wet objects. If ball lightning flew into the room, you need to slowly, with bated breath, leave the room. If this is not possible, you need to stand without moving. After 10-100 seconds, she will bypass you and disappear. Ball lightning can appear without harming a person or a room, but it can explode, resulting in an air wave that can injure a person. Ball lightning has a temperature of about 5000 ° C and can cause a fire.

Help for the victim of a lightning strike

To provide first aid to a person struck by lightning, it should be moved to a safe place immediately. Touching the victim is not dangerous, there is no charge left in his body. Even if it seems that defeat is fatal, it may not actually be so.

If the lightning victim is unconscious, lay him on his back and turn his head to the side so that the tongue does not sink into Airways. It is necessary, without stopping for a minute, to do artificial respiration and heart massage until medical help arrives.

If these actions helped, and the person shows signs of life, before the arrival of doctors, give the victim 2-3 tablets of analgin, and put a wet, cold, cloth folded in several layers on his head. If there are burns, they must be poured with plenty of water, the burnt clothing should be removed, and then the affected area should be covered with a clean dressing. When transporting an injured person to the nearest medical institution, it is necessary to put him on a stretcher and constantly monitor his well-being.

For relatively mild lightning strikes give the victim any painkiller (analgin, tempalgin, etc.) and a sedative medicine (valerian tincture, corvalol, etc.)

Every minute 6,000 lightning strikes the earth. The chance of human injury is about 1 in 600,000, with about a third of the victims dying on the spot, and the survivors being seriously injured. The statistics are very inaccurate, but they give a general picture: from direct blows, mortality is much lower than, for example, from car accidents or viral diseases. Nevertheless, the risk of defeat exists, and the consequences can be the most unexpected and surprising.

Differences between a lightning strike and a household electric shock

The human body is an excellent conductor of electricity reasonable limits. In fact, a lightning strike is a very powerful electric shock, which is classified by medicine as an electrical injury. The discharge voltage is about 300 kW, and in household appliances rarely exceeds 20-30 kW. In this case, the duration of contact with lightning is 3 milliseconds, and the defeat in living conditions can last 500 or more milliseconds.

The heavenly discharge heats the air around, provokes the appearance of burns and bizarre patterns on the skin - due to rupture of blood vessels. Electric shocks usually affect the hands and wrists. Lightning strikes at chest or in the head.

Damage symptoms

• Burns. Not only in places of destruction. The discharge provokes the ignition of clothing and a fire at the scene.
• Injury caused by falling or being damaged by foreign objects.
• hallucinations.
• Loss of consciousness.
• Heart failure.
• Violation of the musculoskeletal system.

Consequences of a lightning strike

The discharge penetrates the body, leaving burns - input and output. There may be several of the latter. The blow is applied from below - from the ground. The most common cause of death is cardiac arrest and inadequate first aid. A person falls into a state of shock, which many victims compare with waking up from sleep. In addition, cases of the development of paralysis after being struck by a discharge are common.

Hearing and vision

Approximately 50% of victims of a direct hit receive serious problems with hearing and vision. Within 2-3 days or several years, cataracts develop, cases of retinal detachment, atrophy of the optic nerves and bleeding have been recorded.

Tinnitus and temporary hearing loss, dizziness, infectious diseases middle ear - the consequences of a blow haunt victims throughout their lives. The eardrums may rupture immediately after the impact.

Leather

Extensive burns of I and II degrees and ruptures of blood vessels leave life-long marks on the body. Inflammation and redness appear skin which pass in a few days.

Nervous system

Cerebral hemorrhage, internal hematomas, amnesia and general paralysis - CNS injuries are inevitable when struck by lightning. Also, after rehabilitation, neuropsychiatric diseases can develop.

The cardiovascular system

If you managed to quickly restore a normal heart rhythm, the consequences will be insignificant. But if resuscitation is not carried out, a person dies from hypoxia and lack of oxygen.

Muscular system

The discharge affects the muscles, causing toxic secretions that are very harmful to the kidneys. Due to the strong contractions of muscle tissue during the impact, bones break, and there is a high probability of a spinal fracture.

Amazing abilities that opened up in people after the defeat

Roy Cleveland Sullivan

A park ranger from Kentucky has taken 7 direct hits in 34 years. After last defeat Roy lived another 6 years and committed suicide at 71! Amazing case listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Fearing to be discharged, like Sullivan's wife during the defeat in the summer of 1977, those around him shunned the sky-marked forester for recent years life.

Jorge Marquez

The Cuban survived after 5 hits. The first three lesions provoked severe burns of the limbs and back, complete burnout of the hair and loss of fillings from the teeth. But it is surprising that all subsequent blows did not cause any serious damage. Jorge is alive, for his own safety he does not go outside in a thunderstorm.

Vladimir Ignatievich Dronov

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a retired captain, who was 50 years old, was struck by lightning while hunting. Dronov lost consciousness for about 30 minutes. The discharge did not cause serious consequences, oddities began later. In a few months, the bald head became covered with thick hair, all the teeth fell out, but after a short time new ones came out!

Bruno Di Filippo

A Massachusetts man received a discharge while peacefully watering his front lawn. The lightning passed through the shoulder and exited through the ankle. Doctors stated: the blow did absolutely no harm to the body. Only a small scar remained on the body, which eventually disappeared without a trace.

Vanga

The Bulgarian healer, known throughout the world, suffered from a hurricane and a lightning strike as a child, losing her eyesight, but gaining the gift of divination.

Harold Dean

After being struck by lightning, Harold became immune to the cold: even in winter, a Missouri resident goes out in one T-shirt.

Vasily Saiko

Penzyak received a ball lightning discharge that passed through the chest and exited from the back without causing any visible damage or injury. internal organs. However, during the examination, it turned out that the chronic stomach ulcer that had tormented Vasily had disappeared without a trace.

Wagner Casey

At an off-road race in Texas, Wagner and his friends were overtaken by a thunderstorm. Trying to hide under a tree, the man received the strongest discharge. Falling to the ground, the unfortunate man was struck by lightning a second time. Casey was immediately hospitalized, escaping with minor skin damage and loss of sensation in his right leg. A few weeks later, the victim fully recovered.

Common Lightning Myths

You can't hide from lightning even in a building

When it hits a building, the discharge goes into the ground through lightning rods. The house is one of the most safe places during a thunderstorm: most often people who are in open areas, near water bodies or under trees receive blows. Not less than safe place is a car with a solid roof.

Lightning shoots down planes

At least once a year, the discharge hits the plane, but rarely leads to plane crashes: the body of the liner is made of metal, which is an excellent conductor of electricity.

Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice

Common misconception, not justified with scientific point vision. The discharge can hit the same object twice. For example, a structure 500 meters high has 50-80 hits annually. In addition, physicists have calculated that after the first discharge, lightning will strike within a radius of 10 to 100 meters with a probability of 67%.

Lightning only forms when it rains

While thunder is heard, there is a danger of being struck by lightning. In this case, the rain can go 10 kilometers and further.

If you touch the victim, you can get an electric shock

A terrible delusion, because of which the first medical care to the victim. In fact, the human body is not capable of holding an electrical discharge.

Mobile phone is dangerous in a thunderstorm

Science provides no evidence to support this myth. Only a phone with a metal casing that is in contact with the skin can increase the chance of being struck by lightning.

To provide first aid and call a doctor is the duty of everyone who has witnessed a lightning strike on a person. It is not difficult, it is likely that you will save the life of the victim!

There is a common stereotype that lightning strikes from top to bottom. This is far from being the case, because in addition to terrestrial lightning, there are also intra-cloud lightning and even lightning that exist only in the ionosphere.

Lightning is a huge electrical discharge, the current in which can reach hundreds of thousands of amperes, and the voltage - hundreds of millions of watts. The length of some lightning in the atmosphere can reach tens of kilometers.

The nature of lightning

For the first time physical nature lightning was described by the American scientist Benjamin Franklin. In the early 1750s, he conducted an experiment to study atmospheric electricity. Franklin waited for the onset of thunderstorms and launched a kite into the sky. The snake was struck by lightning, and Benjamin came to the conclusion about the electrical nature of lightning. The scientist was lucky - at about the same time Russian researcher G. Richman, who also studied atmospheric electricity, died from a lightning strike on the apparatus he had designed.

The processes of lightning formation in thunderclouds have been most thoroughly studied. If the lightning passes through the cloud itself, it is called intracloud. And if it strikes the ground, it is called ground.

ground lightning

The process of formation of ground lightning includes several stages. First, the electric field in the atmosphere reaches its critical values, ionization occurs, and finally, a spark discharge is formed, which hits the ground from the thundercloud.

Strictly speaking, lightning strikes from top to bottom only partially. First, an initial discharge rushes from the cloud towards the earth. The closer he gets to earth's surface, the more tension increases electric field. Because of this, a response charge is thrown towards the approaching lightning from the surface of the Earth. After that, the main lightning discharge is thrown out through the ionized channel connecting the sky and the earth. He really hits from top to bottom.

Intracloud lightning

Intracloud lightning is usually much larger than ground lightning. Their length can be up to 150 km. The closer the area is to the equator, the more often intracloud lightning occurs in it. If in northern latitudes the ratio of intracloud and ground lightning is approximately the same; in the equatorial zone, intracloud lightning makes up approximately 90% of all lightning discharges.

Sprites, elves and jets

In addition to the usual thunderstorms, there are such little-studied phenomena as elves, jets and sprites. Sprites are similarities of lightning that appear at an altitude of up to 130 km. Jets are formed in the lower layers of the ionosphere and are discharges in the form of blue. Elven discharges also have a cone-shaped shape and can reach a diameter of several hundred kilometers. Elves usually appear at an altitude of about 100 km.