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Would you like to know some interesting facts about lightning? Well, it’s a beautiful sight to see all right, but it’s also rather dangerous and unpredictable, and can be quite impossible to predict. Today scientists all over the world are gathering information on lightning, monitoring the temperature, and even creating it artificially in laboratories. This article will tell you some interesting facts about lightning.

Did you know that each year, our earth experiences almost an average of 25 million lightning strikes? This is during an average of 100,000 thunderstorms! That roughly translates to almost a hundred lightning bolts per second. Makes you quake in your shoes, doesn’t it? You would also be surprised to know that when lightning strikes, thunder can be heard from about 12 miles away from the starting point. The average length of a bolt of lightning is almost a quarter of a second – and there are 3-4 strikes usually.

Lightning also travels at a frighteningly high speed – approximately 60,000 miles per second and the average length of a single lightning bolt is 2-3 miles. Plus, the temperature can get really high too! It might reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and that’s 5 times the temperature of the surface of the sun! a single lightning bolt usually travels through twisted paths in the air – these can be as wide as the breadth of a finger, or as wide as six or ten miles. That’s quite a range, isn’t it?

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Lightning bolts are also knows to have tremendously high amounts of energy. For instance, the energy in a single lightning strike can be used to provide power to a 100 watt light bulb for almost 90 days! And if you think that the myth “Lightning never strikes the same place twice” is true – think again, lightning has been known to strike the same place many times. And usually, we think that when a tree gets hit by lightning, it burns right to the ground, but that doesn’t happen all the time. Sometimes, they can take direct hits, and still not get burnt – what happens is basically the electricity passes over the wet surface, and then gets transferred to the ground, where it gets neutralized.

Have you seen “Sweet Home Alabama”? If you have, then you know about the scene where Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas dig up a glass ball from the sand, after the lightning has struck. Well, that is actually based on fact, as glass does really form when lightning strikes sandy soil. If you ever walk on the beach right after a storm, you might actually be able to dig up bits of glass. And if you’re out in a storm and you’re scared of the lightning, you would do well to know that if your clothes are wet, the lightning will harm you less.

In March 1991, there were more than 15,000 lightning strikes in a six-hour continuous storm that raged over Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri. During that time, the skies had constant lightning. The Empire State Building, in New York City, gets hit by lightning almost 23 times a year. Do you think our earth is the only planet to be subject to lightning? Well, think again. Planets like Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn do get hit by lightning too.

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Lightning has some very interesting beliefs from history. For instance, the ancient Aztec civilization believing that lightning and the dead went hand in hand, and the lightning split the earth, and went into its very depths. And in the Middle Ages, people believed that the ringing of the Church bells expelled evil spirits. Thunder and lightning were both considered diabolical, so during a thunderstorm, monks continuously made efforts to ring bells. No wonder that most of the victims hit by lightning during the Middle Ages were bell-ringers! Are you feeling sorry for them?

There are many people out there who have an irrational fear of lightning. This phobia is called keraunophobia. Would you like to know how many people are killed by lightning in the United States every year? Well, approximately 200. That’s quite a staggering number. Florida is known to be the Deadliest State, because it has twice as many lightning victims as compared to other states.

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Do you think you will get hit by lightning? Well, the chances of that happening are 1 in 7,000,000. That’s about the same possibility as you dying from falling out of bed. But there are ways you can avoid getting hit by lightning. For instance, a major thing you should know about is that you should never ever talk on the phone while there is a storm raging outside. Cell phones attract lightning, and in fact, almost 1% of all lightning causalities in the United States were due to people talking on corded phones inside their homes during a thunderstorm.

But you would be pleased to know that at least 71% of those struck by lightning survive. Those who die usually die of cardiac arrest. But you should know that the survivors sometimes have to deal with serious psychological and health problems like insomnia, loss of memory, loss of sensitivity, or even constant pain in the body.

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There are many weird stories about lightning doing the rounds, which scientists have not been able to explain. For instance, there was this park ranger called Roy Sullivan, who between the years of 1942 and 1977, was struck by lightning a total of seven times! In 1942, his thumb and leg were burned, in 1969, his eyebrows were burned, and in 1970, his shoulder was burned. Then in 1972, his hair was burned, in 1973, it was his leg, and then in 1976, lightning targeted his ankle. Then finally in 1977, his chest and abdomen were burnt. Finally, after much depression and many psychological problems, in 1983, he committed suicide. Bizarre, isn’t it? Wait till you hear about Martha Maiko.

Martha Maiko was a Bulgarian woman, in 1935; she took in an American tourist named Randolph Eastman, who wanted to take shelter from the storm in her house. They were married a week later, but after just 2 weeks, he succumbed to a hit from lightning. Maiko then married again, a man from France called Charles Mort. When they went on a trip to Spain, he was struck by lightning. Maiko went back to Sofia, and started undergoing therapy to deal with her depression. She ended up marrying her doctor. They tied the knot in Berlin, but when they were en route to France, lightning hit the car and her husband died on the spot. Maiko didn’t remarry again!

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Want to know some more facts about lightning? Well, there are basically two types of lightning – the first type is positive. The second type is negative, and the negative strikes are more common that the positive ones. Lightning, as stated before, releases huge amounts of energy. For instance, the energy released by the strikes can generate nitrogen oxides (from the un-reactive nitrogen present in the air). In fact, these nitrogen oxides are quite beneficial for plants, which use them for growth.

Lightning, over the years, has been subject to fears, curiosity, and many question. We do find it beautiful, but it would be suitable to remember that it can be very dangerous, so people should learn to be careful during thunderstorms, when lightning strikes.

The usual words that one naturally associates with the term – deserts are; sand, heat, dry, utter chaos! Anyway you do not always have to feel dread every time you think of vast stretches of desert land as we have summed up around ten of the best deserts in the world. Here you can take a look at all eth reasons why some of these beautiful, amazing and sometimes downright lovely deserts should not give you the sinking feeling inside. Take a look at what makes these deserts some of the best in the world.

1. Salar de Uyuni:

This desert, located in Bolivia would change your conception of the idea of deserts completely. It happens to be the largest salt desert in the world but the beauty of the place is exceptional. The desert is completely flat and the so large and crystal in its salty nature that the whole sky seems to be reflected in it creating the ground in different shades of blue.

Photo by Auré from Paris

Another beautiful aspect of the desert is the numerous lakes that you will find here; these lakes are in multiple colors because of the minerals that make it up. The effect of these soothing colors is remarkable.

2. Sahara Desert:

This is the world’s largest desert and could very well be termed as the most impressive desert in the world as well. Only one single country cannot be allocated with the desert, but it includes the countries of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco and several others.

Photo by More Altitude

There is indeed here, miles and miles of sand with very little rainfall and slight plantation and creatures; however the Sahara desert is definitely an icon for the African continent and a brilliant natural phenomenon no matter how inhospitable that it might seem.

3. Gobi Desert:

This desert is located in Mongolia and stands for one of the most incredible sights in the world. The desert is also often called “The Flaming Cliffs”. This term originates from the fact that the desert is covered in sand dunes with the existence of a lot of orange high rocks and cliffs.

Photo by PhotoSenseDatum

So the cliffs and rocks with their flaming orange color appear to be on fire as compared to the vast expanse of sand dunes in the rest of the landscape. The sight therefore is definitely worth a visit.

4. Wadi Rum:

This desert located in Jordan is claimed by many to be one of the most beautiful and un spoilt deserts in the world. The desert is covered with huge sandstone mountains and granite rocks giving one breath taking views of 1700 meters of large rocks and canyons in depth.

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Here too one finds evidences of ancient people having lived in the desert caves and in fact there are still some tribes who still live in the desert.  The Wadi Rum now is a protected area in order to safeguard its natural beauty.

5. Thar Desert:

This desert is located in India and is also very often known as the Great Indian Desert. However, the desert also has some parts of it situated in India’s neighboring country Pakistan as well. This desert too has the conventional feature of miles and miles of sand under the burning eye of the Sun, however the beauty of the desert perhaps lies in the colorful people who inhabit the land along with all the different kinds of animals you will encounter there.

Photo by oochappan

There are small hillocks and gravel plains that are found all over but the biodiversity of this desert is very rich.

6. Patagonian Desert:

This desert is located in Argentina and is also among the list of some of the largest deserts in the world though it is the largest desert in South America. The desert is actually a cold desert but a visit would betray to you the ancient mystique about the desert with lots of caves and ancient man made paintings inside them.

Photo by Superrine

As expected the desert is vast with brownish red earth and the foxes that one encounters in the desert make a travel to the desert rather fascinating. Another feature that would strike one in this desert is that it is indeed quite windy here!

7. Atacama Desert:

This desert is one of the biggest icons of Chile, apart from the fact that almost the entire country is nearly covered by the desert itself. The area of the desert which is closest to Africa is considered to be the driest area on earth, so this land can be said to be completely synonymous with all the adjectives of sand sand and only sand and the dryness that is associated with the term desert land.

Photo by * Krakote *

The southern region of the desert is however where the beauty of the desert lies as the land is more livable and there is flora and fauna in abundance found here. However, Chile as a country finds its main tourism resources from the beauty of the Atacama desert no matter how dry it maybe!

8. Antarctic Desert:

Of course located in Antarctica, this is one of the most fascinating desert lands in the world. Completely white in appearance this land is one the world’s driest desert in the world along with being the wettest deserts in the worlds at the same time.

Photo by Ross Mackenzie

This is because, Antarctica happens to be the land of extremes, as there is hardly any rainfall here the land is naturally the driest place on earth, while because of the freezing climate the land is constantly covered with ice which also makes it the wettest land in the world as well. Another feature to add to all this is the fact that it is also one of the coldest places on earth!

9. Kalahari Desert:

The Kalahari Desert is again one of the most fascinating destinations in the world and is located in Botswana. Many might not even call it a true desert in the way that most deserts are described. The Kalahari experiences lots of rainfall but what makes it a desert is that the rainfall is sporadic and it never settles on the surface making vegetation and the survival of the tribes of the Kalahari and animals a grave challenge.

Photo by *melby*

The beauty of the golden sand and sand dunes are utterly beautiful and make it one of the most splendid deserts in the world.

10. Mojave Desert:

This desert covers a large part of the USA and also happens to form some of the most breathtaking landscapes of the country. The desert has typically the mountain topography with sparse population, but the mountain vegetation that the desert supports is quite unique and varied in its species. The Mojave Desert has some breathtaking views with four national parks and which includes the Grand Canyon and also numerous pretty lakes but the Desert has become quite urbanized and is not an untouched desert like most above.

Photo by D Breezy

Another great attraction of the desert is the existence of a unique piece of geography termed as the World’s Largest Thermometer. Tourism does flourish here but mostly because of the cities that fall within the territory of the desert which includes the city of Las Vegas.