I wonder how much lightning contributes to heating the Earth's atmosphere... er... the grammar doesn't sound correct there but you get the idea.
I can't see it contributing too much to global warming, but seeing as lightning is the most important source of ozone, it could be said that life on Earth as we know it, would've been impossible without it!
I wonder how much lightning contributes to heating the Earth's atmosphere... er... the grammar doesn't sound correct there but you get the idea.
I had mentioned earlier a theory that lightening is an indicator of global temperature. The theory is that lightening is more associated with the dissipation of energy and functionally cools the atmosphere.
Bill
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The truth is incontravertible; malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is. - Winston Churchill
I had mentioned earlier a theory that lightening is an indicator of global temperature. The theory is that lightening is more associated with the dissipation of energy and functionally cools the atmosphere.
Bill
Mmmm...I'm not sure about this BD. In part because of the electrical nature of lightning and I think we had a article somewhere indicating cosmic (gamma?) rays may trigger some lightning, and in part because locally at least to the bolt, the lightning is superheating the air. Mmmmm....
---------------- semantics is not always just pedantic quibbling. ~ douglas r. hofstadter
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This hit Winnipeg last year and was the most intense I had ever seen. As the description goes, imagine that scene every 1-2 seconds, a continuous onslaught of heavy rain, and constant thunder rumbling. Gahd and I decided to take a stroll this evening. We were transporting my now dead server via bus back to my place. Wrapping it up in a couple garbage bags, we walked outside, totally soaked in a matter of seconds. And then we walked up to the main street and waited for a good 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, enjoying the light show and being deafened by thunder. I can't speak for Gahd, but that was fun.
By the by, something I've been wondering about. Which is faster? Lightning or the human bodies neurological signals?
http://hypography.com/gallery/showim...c=3&userid=624
This hit Winnipeg last year and was the most intense I had ever seen. As the description goes, imagine that scene every 1-2 seconds, a continuous onslaught of heavy rain, and constant thunder rumbling. Gahd and I decided to take a stroll this evening. We were transporting my now dead server via bus back to my place. Wrapping it up in a couple garbage bags, we walked outside, totally soaked in a matter of seconds. And then we walked up to the main street and waited for a good 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, enjoying the light show and being deafened by thunder. I can't speak for Gahd, but that was fun.
By the by, something I've been wondering about. Which is faster? Lightning or the human bodies neurological signals?
Mmmm...I'm not sure about this BD. In part because of the electrical nature of lightning and I think we had a article somewhere indicating cosmic (gamma?) rays may trigger some lightning, and in part because locally at least to the bolt, the lightning is superheating the air. Mmmmm....
The amount of energy conducted through the bolt far exceeds the heat generated. The localized super-heating can't touch the total loss of energy in a strike. I am trying to find info on this. But it goes slowly.
Bill
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aka TheBigDog - Hypography Full Freaking Moderator Become a Hypography sponsor!
The truth is incontravertible; malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is. - Winston Churchill
June 1, 2009
Look closely where the lightning meets the water. Tiny bolts appear to be dancing around the impact site.
"Those are called 'upward streamers,'" says lightning expert Richard Blakeslee of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. "In a typical cloud-to-ground lightning strike, as the leader approaches the ground, the large electric field at the leader tip induces these upward propagating streamers. The first one that connects to the downward propagating leader initiates the bright return stroke that we see with our eye. Upward streamers are often observed on photographs of lightning hitting the ground."
Now we know they can be seen when lightning hits the water, too. ...
---------------- semantics is not always just pedantic quibbling. ~ douglas r. hofstadter
We have a theme developing! A somewhat unusual line of thunderstorms moved through my region yesterday -I'm in metropolitan Vancouver USA across the Columbia River from Portland Oregon- and I was trying all day to get some lightning shots. Alas, my immediate location was on the fringe which is prolly better for my garden though, as some areas suffered considerable damage, but I saw no lightning. 50,000 lost power in June storm | Local News | kgw.com | News for Portland Oregon and SW Washington
Anyway, I check Spaceweather daily and they again have an unusual lightning photo and circumstance. A lightning strike between an eruption cloud from a volcano and a thunderstorm cloud.
Originally Posted by Spaceweather.com: June 5,2009
VOLCANIC LIGHTNING: On May 19th, adventure photographer Stephen O'Meara was monitoring an eruption of the Rabaul volcano in Papua, New Guinea, when something happened that, he says, "I'll remember for a very long time. A storm cloud approached the volcano's 2 km plume, and lightning began to arc between the two." He set up his camera in a secure location and recorded the "awesome and blinding" spectacle: ...
---------------- semantics is not always just pedantic quibbling. ~ douglas r. hofstadter
Re: Lightning
semantics is not always just pedantic quibbling. ~ douglas r. hofstadter
Re: Lightning
As to whether lightning or brain signals are faster, I suspect lightning wins, given the chemical component of neurological signals. But then, the distances are shorter in the brain so it may be relative to individual/particular instances. Here's a bit on the speed of lightning:
More photos and article at 
Re: Lightning
