lightning
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.5|Strokes of cloud-to-ground lightning strike the Mediterranean Sea off of Port-la-Nouvelle in southern France.
AI overview
Lightning is a powerful electrical discharge that occurs between clouds and the ground during thunderstorms. It matters because it poses a significant hazard to people, structures, and the environment when it strikes.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
49 sectionsContents
- Forms
- Cloud to ground (CG)
- {{anchor|Positive lightning}}Positive and negative lightning
- {{anchor|Cloud to cloud}} Cloud to cloud (CC) and intra-cloud (IC)
- Formation
- Atmospheric phenomena in which lightning occurs
- Charge separation
- Charge separation in thunderstorms
- Establishing an electric field
- Electrical discharge as flashes and strikes
- Lightning leaders
- Upward streamers
- Attachment
- Discharge – Return stroke
- Discharge – Re-strike
- Discharge – Transient currents during flash
- Distribution, frequency and properties<span class="anchor" id="Distribution and frequency"></span>
- Megaflashes
- Extraterrestrial
- Effects
- Injury, damage and destruction
- To nature
- To man-made structures and their contents
- To aircraft
- To living beings
- Noise (thunder)
- The distance approximation trick
- Electromagnetic radiation and interference
- Radio frequency radiation
- High-energy radiation
- Environmental changes
- Atmospheric chemistry
- Ground fertilisation
- Induced permanent magnetism
- Magnetic hallucinations
- Detection and monitoring
- Artificial triggering
- Impact of climate change and air pollution
- Lightning and climate change feedbacks
- In culture
- Religion and mythology
- In popular culture
- Political and military culture
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.5|Strokes of cloud-to-ground lightning strike the Mediterranean Sea off of Port-la-Nouvelle in southern France.
Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on the ground. Following the lightning, the regions become partially or wholly electrically neutralized.