Lightning Flash in India. Thunderbolt took thousands of lives.
L ightning is a naturally occurring event that releases electrostatic discharge in which two electrically charged areas, either in the atmosphere or on the ground, briefly neutralize each other, resulting in the immediate release of one gigajoule of energy on average. This discharge may generate a wide spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from heat produced by the fast flow of electrons to bright bursts of light waves as black-body radiation. Thunder is a sound produced by lightning caused by a shock wave that arises when gases in the discharge's region suffer a rapid increase in pressure. During a rainfall last year, four gardeners working at a condo building in Gurgaon, a suburban area close to the Indian capital of Delhi, sought cover under a tree. In a few minutes, an orange flash rushed down the tree, followed by thunderous claps. Lightning lasts less than a second. A typical lightning strike has a voltage of 300 million volts and a current of 30,000 amps, which...