Lightning is surely one of our planet’s most intriguing phenomena. The heat and energy from a lightning strike can cause devastation, especially when the strike starts a fire. An estimated 400 people are struck by lightning every year in the United States, though incredibly, 90% of victims survive the traumatizing experience. (Remember park ranger Roy Sullivan, who was struck by lightning seven different times?)
By the numbers, lightning is even more awe-inspiring. A lightning strike can heat the surrounding air to the incredibly high temperature of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit (27,760 degrees Celsius). This is roughly five times hotter than the surface of the Sun (approximately 10,000 °F or 5,500 °C). Notably, lightning itself doesn’t have a temperature; instead, the resistance to the movement of electrical charges causes the surrounding material to heat up.
The air is a notoriously poor conductor of electricity, so it heats up immensely when a lightning strike occurs. Incidents of cloud-to-ground lightning record the largest jumps in temperature due to the long distances they have to travel.
It’s worth noting that the surface of the Sun, known as the photosphere, isn’t all that hot, at least compared to other solar regions. The Sun’s core is an unimaginably hot 27 million °F (15 million °C) due to the continual process of nuclear fusion at the star’s center, which releases a huge amount of energy. According to NASA, in just 1.5 millionths of a second, the Sun releases more energy than would be needed to power all human activities on Earth for an entire year.
Puzzlingly, the Sun’s corona, which occupies the highest layer of the solar atmosphere, is far hotter than the surface. The corona's temperatures regularly exceed 1.8 million °F (1 million °C), a mystery that continues to stump scientists.
Electrifying:
- One of the main reasons so many people survive lightning strikes is that direct strikes are very rare. Instead, most are caused by ground current, which involves a person receiving an electric charge after a lightning strike hits the ground some distance away. Another type of indirect strike is known as a side flash, which happens when lightning hits a tall object and “jumps” to a nearby person. In both cases, the energy has significantly dissipated by the time it reaches the person.
- Additionally, when people are struck by lightning, most of the current passes over their skin in what’s known as a “flashover,” so they are only exposed to the heat for just a few microseconds.
- The rapid administration of CPR can be the difference between life and death for lightning strike victims, as the jolt of electricity frequently results in cardiac arrest. Nevertheless, many survivors are left with debilitating health problems, ranging from muscle soreness and headaches to depression and memory loss.
