Over the following years, I observed the long, narrow lightning scar deepening as the wood decayed. Many of us thought it would die, but it defied the odds. There is a splendid variegated elm growing at Melbourne University's Burnley Campus which was struck by lightning almost 30 years ago. Trees can often recover from strikes like this, if the scar and decay are not too great. The wood behind the scar often decays over time, leaving a hollow behind. You'll notice the lightning scar on trees like these, as it's very visible. Such a strike often kills the tree's living tissues in a strip running along a large branch, vertically down the trunk to the ground, or even ending a meter or two above the ground. Sometimes, lightning will strike one side of a tree. You may well notice the tree will appear to be undamaged and continue to grow well. You can sometimes see the sooty residue left on parts of the tree after a strike like this. If the trunk of the tree is very wet from rain, the lightning will course through the water and dust on the trunk down to the earth, causing little damage to the tree itself. Trees are not very good conductors of electricity. It would be an excellent idea not to be under a tree when this happens. The sap inside the tree instantly turns to steam, which can cause it to literally explode, or lose great strips of wood and bark. For a tree unlucky enough to be hit by one of these events, it's all over. Strikes can be up to a million volts, generating temperatures up to 20,000℃. The lightning strike pictured hit a tree in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens. The damage done depends on the tree species, whether it was sheet or forked lightning, how wet it was and where the lightning hits the earth and dissipates. In fact, the effects can vary enormously. You'd think a lightning strike would be game over for most trees. When lightning strikes, they are more likely to be struck. How do these rules apply from the perspective of a tree? Old trees are often the tallest thing around. Lightning never strikes in the same place twice. Don't shelter under a tree during a thunder storm. Most of us are used to the rules we were told about lightning and trees from childhood. And that means our tallest trees will be hit more often. As storms intensify in our new climate, we're likely to see more lightning strikes. These all contribute to trees falling or dropping large branches.īut there's something you might not think of as linked to climate change. ABC13 Houston The average length of a lightning bolt is about 2-3 miles.This is what we can expect as our climate changes, with storm events more frequent, wind speeds stronger and rainfall heavier. Wales online While the intensity of a lightning strike can make them appear as thick bolts across the sky, the actual width of a lightning bolt is only about 2-3 cms. Daily Mirror That’s around 44 strikes every second. Around the world, there are over 3,000,000 flashes every day. funnyjunk That’s as many as 40,000 lightning strikes in one night! Daily Mirror Lightning is one of nature’s most recurrent and common spectacles. Cocorahs Massive thunderstorms occur on 140-160 nights per year with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute lasting up to 10 hours at a time. Chiefdelphi Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the place on Earth that receives the most lightning strikes. Europa Press This means it would take about 55 minutes to travel to the moon, or around 1.5 seconds to get from London to Bristol. vinegred While the flashes we see as a result of a lightning strike travel at the speed of light, an actual lightning strike travels at a comparatively gentle 270,000 mph. Tumblr Lighting strikes can lead to amnesia, cardiac arrests, seizures, brain injury and spinal cord damage among other things. That’s enough to evaporate everything in the surrounding. Dailyexaminer A lightning bolt can heat the surrounding air to 27,760 degrees Celsius. Gasengi While lightning strikes are not very common, people living near water bodies are always at risk. Twisted sifter The odds of getting struck by lightning in any given year is about 1 in 3,00,000. Twisted sifter These tattoo like scars are better known as the Lichtenberg Figures. They develop over a period of time and basically mean that your flesh might be decaying. These marks may look all mystic but they are not. The only problem is that when it hits someone, they get really hurt. Lightning is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena.
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