Manitoba to examine potential marine conservation area in Hudson Bay https://globalnews.ca/news/11651218/manitoba-national-marine-conservation-area/
#environment #gestorum

Turning sugarcane waste, specifically bagasse (the fibrous residue left after crushing sugarcane)—into eco-friendly plates and paying workers a living wage. #recycling #environment #climate #science #technology

Vancouver landfill to remain open until 2050
The Vancouver Landfill in Delta, B.C., was set to close in 2030, but the city was able to find enough space to extend the dump's life by 20 years.
#environment #wastemanagement #Vancouver #Delta #BC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-landfill-to-remain-open-until-2050-9.7072854?cmp=rss

Nowhere Tree
.

"Im Nirgendwo" steht dieser Baum ohne Gefährten #FotoVorschlag
#ThickTrunkTuesday #Trees #Landscape #Monochrome #LandscapePhotography #bnw #Nature #NaturePhotography #Environment #Photography

Canada rolls out whalesafe strategy to curb right whale entanglements
The federal government is rolling out its "whalesafe fishing gear strategy," a five-year plan to develop and support the use of new fishing gear to reduce the risk of entangling whales — specifically the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
#environment #conservation #whales #Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/dfo-whalesafe-strategy-9.7072313?cmp=rss

California officials move forward with plans to exterminate mule deer from island https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/03/california-mule-deer-extermination-catalina-island #California #Wildlife #Environment #UsNews #WestCoast

Canada rolls out whalesafe strategy to curb right whale entanglements
The federal government is rolling out its "whalesafe fishing gear strategy," a five-year plan to develop and support the use of new fishing gear to reduce the risk of entangling whales — specifically the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
#environment #conservation #whales #Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/dfo-whalesafe-strategy-9.7072313?cmp=rss

Manitoba to examine potential marine conservation area in Hudson Bay
Oceans North, a non-profit environmental group, says western Hudson Bay is home to about one-quarter of the world's beluga whale population.
#conservation #environment #marine #Manitoba #HudsonBay #Canada
https://globalnews.ca/news/11651218/manitoba-national-marine-conservation-area/

Manitoba to examine potential marine conservation area in Hudson Bay
Oceans North, a non-profit environmental group, says western Hudson Bay is home to about one-quarter of the world's beluga whale population.
#conservation #environment #marine #Manitoba #HudsonBay #Canada
https://globalnews.ca/news/11651218/manitoba-national-marine-conservation-area/

Global Surge in Climate Finance Investment Reaches $2.4 Trillion in 2024 https://www.bocvip.com/1186299/global-surge-in-climate-finance-investment-reaches-2-4-trillion-in-2024/ #environment

Manitoba to examine potential marine conservation area in Hudson Bay
Oceans North, a non-profit environmental group, says western Hudson Bay is home to about one-quarter of the world's beluga whale population.
#conservation #environment #marine #Manitoba #HudsonBay #Canada
https://globalnews.ca/news/11651218/manitoba-national-marine-conservation-area/

Manitoba puts up money to examine potential marine conservation area in Hudson Bay
Oceans North, a non-profit environmental group, says western Hudson Bay is home to about one-quarter of the world's beluga whale population.
#conservation #environment #marine #Manitoba #HudsonBay #Canada
https://globalnews.ca/news/11651218/manitoba-national-marine-conservation-area/

EPA Could Eliminate Limp Mode for Diesel Trucks Low on DEF https://www.bocvip.com/1186247/epa-could-eliminate-limp-mode-for-diesel-trucks-low-on-def/ #environment

Does adding ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to your ChatGPT prompts really waste energy?
#AI #ChatGPT #ClimateChange #DataCentres #Energy #Sustainability #Environment #TechEthics #WaterUse #DigitalInfrastructure #ElectricityDemand #GreenTech #ClimatePolicy #Tech
https://the-14.com/does-adding-please-and-thank-you-to-your-chatgpt-prompts-really-waste-energy/

Extreme heat will make Northern Territory unlivable within 40 years, activists warn

https://slrpnk.net/post/33714149

Rainfall hits 65-year low, deepening drought in central Türkiye. The decline in precipitation, combined with above-average temperatures, is placing significant strain on surface and groundwater resources, with visible consequences for agriculture and daily life. https://www.bocvip.com/1186191/rainfall-hits-65-year-low-deepening-drought-in-central-turkiye-the-decline-in-precipitation-combined-with-above-average-temperatures-is-placing-significant-strain-on-surface-and-groundwater-resour/ #environment

Bishkek’s Air Pollution Crisis Comes Under Parliamentary Scrutiny

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://timesca.com/bishkeks-air-pollution-crisis-comes-under-parliamentary-scrutiny/

Kazakhstan’s Water Ministry Approves Roadmap to Eliminate the “Black Market” for Water

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://timesca.com/kazakhstans-water-ministry-approves-roadmap-to-eliminate-the-black-market-for-water/

Opinion – Qosh Tepa Canal: Transboundary Impacts Without a Transboundary Mechanism

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://timesca.com/opinion-qosh-tepa-canal-transboundary-impacts-without-a-transboundary-mechanism/

Describe It: Lightning

When writing, you can use weather to help or hinder characters or set a mood (sometime to a cliche level re: thunder and lightning = scary). We’re going to get into how you can use lightning in a more dynamic way than “lightning flashed overhead”, and help you establish other areas it might be useful in using other than just creepy factor.

In a separate D-Script, we’ll talk about thunder. This was just getting longer than I wanted, so I separated the two for everyone’s sanity.

TIP: It’s LIGHTNING not LIGHT*E*NING. Lightening is it’s own word, which technically means to become less dark. Like your hair lightening in the sunlight.

Get Around This D-Script

• Briefly, What is Thunder and Lightning?
• Types of Lightning With Descriptions

• Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very, Very Frightening
• Affects of Being Struck by Lightning
• Misconceptions About Thunder and Lightning

Related D-Scripts

This area will fill in the more subjects we’re able to get to.

• Describe It: Cold Weather, Snow, and Ice

• Describe It: Lightning

• Describe It: Rain

Briefly, What is Thunder and Lightning?

Lightning is a massive electrical discharge in the atmosphere. This is created when differences in charge build up between clouds or between a cloud and the ground/object. That imbalance eventually breaks down the insulating air, causing a sudden, high-energy spark that releases light, heat, and sound.

NOTE: Thunder is a sound. Lightning is visual. Some people have difficulties remembering which is which. If so, just remember that “light” is something you see.

Thunder is the sound produced by that lightning. When lightning super heats the air, usually to over 25,000°C (five times hotter than the surface of the sun!!!), the air expands explosively. That shockwave of rapidly expanding and contracting air creates the rolling, cracking, or booming noise we hear.

Then what is a thunderbolt? This is lightning that happens at the same time as it’s associated thunder. This typically happens when the lightning was directly overhead and it tends to be fairly loud!

Additional Reading

• Severe Weather 101: Lightning
• Safety Guidelines: Lightning

Types of Lightning with Descriptions

In the descriptions of different type of lightning, I’ll provide example sentences. At the end of this section, I’ll provide a long list of descriptors with example use.

Cloud-to-Ground (or something tall) Lightning

Note: Cloud-to-ground strikes can hit trees, buildings, open ground, or anything tall and conductive. Additionally, they don’t always strike where logic says they should.

Cloud-to-ground lightning is what people generally think of when thinking of lightning. As the name implies, it’s an electrical discharge that forms between a storm cloud and the ground (or object).

A negatively charged region near a storm’s base seeks “balance”. The ground below which is rich with a positive charge, becomes a target. Once the electric field grows strong enough to overwhelm the air’s resistance, a stepped leader is formed and begins seeking the best conductive pathway. We talk about stepped leaders below.

When that leader connects with an upward streamer from the ground, the connection snaps together. A powerful return stroke surges upward along the ionized channel, super heating the air and producing the brilliant flash we all know and love (I’m kidding, so many people and animals DO NOT love lightning. We also talk about this later).

Related phenomenon: Ground-to-Cloud Lightning
Ground to cloud lightning is, weirdly, a thing!

“An upward-moving leader initiates a discharge between cloud and ground from an object on the ground. Ground-to-Cloud lightning strikes – sometimes called upward-moving lightning –  are common on tall towers and skyscrapers. GC lightning can also be either positive or negative in polarity. Lightning that demonstrates upward branching indicates a ground-to-cloud flash, though some upward-moving lightning is branchless below the cloud base.”
Source: https://www.rmets.org/metmatters/types-lightning

Video of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning

https://youtu.be/OTYuU4vPBHM?si=muZ4a06FTdGV5Xjw&t=12

Example Sentences

• Lightning tore out of the cloud and struck the ground in a blinding white stroke, giving an instant, ear-splitting crack.
• A jagged bolt split the sky and slammed into the earth beyond the trees.
• The lightning descended in a ragged arch, striking the nearby bell tower.
• White fire crackled from the storm and hit the ground, the afterimage burning into her vision.
• The sky cracked open and a bolt speared the ground, brilliant and merciless, as though the storm had chosen a target for its wrath.

Intra-Cloud (Intracloud) Lightning/Sheet Lightning

This is the most common form of lightning. Intra-cloud lightning never touches the ground. Instead, it leaps between regions of opposite charge in a single storm cloud, usually between the negatively charged lower regions and the positively charged upper layers.

These flashes usually appear as diffused, pulsing light that illuminates the cloud from within. Intra-cloud lightning is sometimes silent (or appears that way), may only flash occasionally, or might happen several at a time or in rapid succession.

With sheet lightning, you tend not to see the bolt, but see the cloud light up from within. These may or may not come with thunder.

Related phenomenon: Cloud-to-Cloud Lightning
Cloud-to-cloud lightning happens when lightning jumps between separate storm clouds or into neighbouring clouds. It can appear more horizontal or arcing than intra-cloud lightning.

Video of Intra-Cloud/Cloud-to-Cloud Lightning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPPk7OLI_rs

Example Sentences

• Lightning leapt from cloud to cloud along the horizon, branching strokes of brilliant white illuminating the darkness.
• A cold flash ripped sideways across the sky, arcing between distant clouds like veins of primal magic.
• The storm flickered with horizontal bolts, crawling across the darkness in long threads as though searching for something.
• Lightning rippled high above, leaping between towering clouds.
• A jagged arc snapped between two clouds, illuminating the sky with intense blue-white light.

Cloud-to-Air Lightning

Cloud-to-air lightning is a discharge that exits a storm cloud and extends into the air without reaching the ground or another cloud. It tends to appear as a branching bolt that just ends abruptly. These happen when a charged area within the cloud finds a conductive path into the atmosphere but not toward the Earth’s surface.

Related phenomenon: Bolt from the Blue
A bolt from the blue is a dangerous type of cloud-to-air lightning. It starts in the upper areas of a storm cloud and travels horizontally for kilometres before turning down and striking the ground far from the storm itself—sometimes under clear skies!

Example Sentences

• Lightning spilled from the cloud and reached into empty sky, its branches dissipating vanishing without a strike.
• A jagged bolt lunged out of the storm and died midair.
• The lightning flared bright, branching wildly before dissolving into the open night.
• A white fork burst from the cloud only to end abruptly, leaving the air glowing where the strike had failed momentarily.

More Types of Lightning

UPWARD STREAMER / LEADER (we’ve referenced this a few times now)

Not technically a type of lightning, per se, but interesting none the less. Inside a storm cloud, electrical charge separates. Negatively charged regions build up, usually near the cloud base. The imbalance between that charge and the positively charged ground beneath gets extreme to the point that the insulating air starts to break down. Yikes!

The cloud sends out a jagged, invisible stepped leader—a branching path of ionized air, creeping downward in fits and bursts toward the ground. As it nears, objects on the ground such as trees, buildings, and even people may launch tiny upward streamers that are fingers of positive charge reaching skyward.

The moment one streamer connects with a descending leader, the circuit closes and the blinding return stroke races back up that path, which is what we actually see as lightning.

Rare Types and One Misnomer

These forms of lightning happen above storm systems or under unusual conditions. They’re rarely seen from the ground without specialised equipment. In fact, for centuries they existed only in pilot reports and folklore before being confirmed scientifically. Still, they may be inspiring to writers.

Note, this is not an exhaustive list.

What’s a misnomer? It’s “a wrong or inaccurate use of a name or term.”

Sprites
Sprites are large, reddish flashes that appear high above thunderstorm clouds, and are often shaped like jellyfish or branching tendrils. They happen in the mesosphere (the third layer of Earth’s atmosphere, located above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere) and are typically triggered by powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes below. Sprites last only milliseconds but can span tens of kilometres vertically, briefly turning the upper atmosphere where they are an eerie red.

Click here for images from Google Search

Blue Jets
Blue jets erupt from the tops of storm clouds as narrow, cone-shaped beams of blue light, shooting upward toward the stratosphere. Unlike sprites, blue jets are thought to start in the storm’s upper regions and don’t require a ground strike. They’re shorter-lived and less expansive than sprites.

Click here for images from Google Search

Ball Lightning
Here’s one only recently agreed upon that it even exists. Ball lightning is one of the most debated and poorly understood atmospheric phenomena, even if it’s one of the coolest (in my opinion). It’s basically a spherical ball of light (go figure) that can be white, yellow, or orange. It may drift slowly through the air, hover near the ground, or move unpredictably. Reported duration range from a few seconds to over a minute.

There are some accounts that ball lightning can pass through windows or end silently, though some reports have them exploding too.

Read More: https://www.britannica.com/story/does-ball-lightning-exist

Heat Lightning (Misnomer)
Despite its name, heat lightning is not a type of lightning at all. The term refers to distant lightning flashes that are visible on the horizon while the accompanying thunder is too far away to be heard. Atmospheric conditions, terrain, and the natural dissipation of sound prevent the thunder from reaching someone in the distance. It’s a misnomer because heat lightning doesn’t actually require hot weather. Nor does it behave differently from ordinary lightning. It’s simply lightning viewed at a distance (usually from storms tens or even hundreds of kilometres away).

Writing Tip: Distant, rolling thunder can be a soothing sound for some people. When it’s closer, it can be—forgive the pun—energizing to listen to. Other people might find it ominous. However, the other side to this is that sometimes lightning flashes nearby bright enough to appear to blank out windows with the glow. The crack of thunder that follows is usually instant and loud enough to be considered ‘ear-splitting’. These bright, loud cracks can make even the most storm-loving person (like me) jump with how sudden and intense they are.

So, don’t forget that some people absolutely LOVE thunder and lightning. They find them enthralling! Other people might find them absolutely terrifying (which we’ll get into soon). Some still might simply find it all a bit unsettling. Don’t forget to explore the gambit of reactions that can come from people in regards to extreme weather.

What Lightning Damage Looks Like

Here are some types of damage that lightning leaves behind for you to consider in your writing. And remember, if lightning strikes something flammable, that thing MIGHT just catch fire. In Canada (we have a lot of forests), 45% of forest fires are started by lightning but also these fires make up 81% of the total areas burned by forest fires*.

Another thing to consider before you get into what damage might look like is the era your story takes place in. For example, in medieval times, a lightning strike may cause massive damage. It might be that the struck item itself burns down, or that fire spreads to surrounding flammable buildings. NOW, this story I’m linking to is not associated with lightning, but I’m putting it here to show an example of what happened historically when fires broke out, and how bad it could get: https://newsroom.calgary.ca/the-great-fire-of-1886-and-the-birth-of-sandstone-buildings-in-calgary/

When it comes to fires spurred by lightning, lightning rods weren’t invented until 1749, and by about 1753 these rods provided a much safer way for electricity to be channeled to the ground, preventing fires. This means that prior to this, taller buildings such castles and church steeples were prime targets for lightning (though lightning will hit the best option not just the tallest). Things woud be much worse if that lightning struck around say gunpowder reserves.

Without modern firefighting, fires could spell the end for that building and everything in them, including potentially people.

Going the other direction in time, when writing in the future you might be dealing with no damage at all! Systems might be set up to gain charge from strikes, or perhaps shielding ignores strikes except for maybe a little shake here and there. But consider what happens if systems fail over overloads? Consider lightning being conducted along vulnerable surfaces (like metal), exploding electronics, or frying systems.

Other Types of Lightning Damage to Inspire You

Some of these are written as just facts, others as examples of how to write them.

• Bark explodes off trees in all directions
• Trees crack open and burn from the inside out
• Sparks fly
• Bell tower splits open to the ground
• Leaves a dead, bare slash down the tree bark
• Building caught fire
• Roof shingles curled and rippled
• Falling tree branches break power lines
• The control box was charred, and the systems they control fried.
• The grass seemed unharmed but for the root-like streamers burned into the green
• Even though they thought they were safe inside, part of the ceiling exploded a second later and there was an instantaneous concussive boom.
• When she’d been fifteen, Amelia had been struck by lightning that had left reddish, fern-like scars all down her side.
• Stone exploded from the steeple, leaving a large hole in the masonry.
• Leaves a large, scorched hole in the side of an airplane

• Left a large black explosion of soot on the surface
• Dirt is blackened and erupted
• Trunk of the tree turned red with fire
• Surge protector explodes
• Ground is littered with branches and leaves that broke off the tree
• There was nothing left of the tree but a shattered stump
• Cement exploded outward
• The sand had melted into a hollow, branching tube of glass.
• A six-foot high mark singed the side of the building
• The metal was warped and black
• Siding is melted and split
• Overloads and destroys breaker boxes (which control electricity in houses. This would cause power to go out until the box was fixed)
• May kill crops around the struck earth
• Tree falls over and crushes a house
• Lightning punches a hole in the wall, and the structure catches fire
• High-voltage surges can melt internal components, scorch circuit boards, and permanently damage semiconductors
• Surge protectors are generally insufficient to stop the surge from a direct strike

SMELLS YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER

Here are a list of smells you could use that are associated with fire. Note, try to use ones that suit the time your novel takes place in. For example, if we’re talking medieval or even pseudo-medieval times, avoid using smells like ozone (a word made in 1840) or carbon (1787) as this can throw your reader out a bit. Consider *what* is burning.

• Ozone
• Burnt plastic
• The smell of char
• Metallic
• Acrid
• Fishy (like with electrical fires)
• Ammonia
• Chemical (especially modern)
• Wood smoke
• Creosote

• Sharp rubber scent
• Acidic
• Carbon
• Turpentine
• Resinous
• Hot soil
• Sweet wood smoke
• Synthetic

All About Smoke Inhalation: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/smoke-inhalation. Keep in mind, smoke inhalation in modern buildings is exceptionally dangerous due to the amount of chemicals in it from burning furniture and similar things.

Read more about lightning damage:

• https://www.tigeradjusters.com/weather-property-damage/lightning-strike
• https://zandz.com/en/library/ten-accidents-caused-by-lightning-strikes-hard-lessons-of-history/
• https://lightningmaster.com/the-worst-lightning-strikes-ever-recorded/
• https://www.lightningstrikeltd.co.uk/blog/lightning-strike-disasters/
• https://inotechnologies.com/7-lightning-disasters/

* Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/lightning/forest-fires.html

Describing Lightning

Below, you’ll see the word with (hidden) next to some descriptors. This is indicating that the lightning is not visible because it’s hidden within the cloud/doesn’t leave the cloud so the only thing people see is the cloud lighting up from within. See Sheet Lightning above.)

Emotive Examples

• The lightning struck the building behind her like the storm had a vendetta. Minnie screamed and darted away the second the shock of nearly being struck by a white-hot bolt faded enough that her legs would move.
• Elsie’s hands clenched tightly as the window beside her went glaringly white. In an instant, her shoulders were nearly up to her ears, breath ragged before the roll of thunder came.
• The clouds glowed from within, lightning breathing softly through them in random flashes. It reminded him of his own thoughts flickering through his mind, never seeming to find their way out.
• The smile that lit up Finn’s angular face was as bright as the flash of light that had brought it on. The young man leapt from the couch and darted to the windows.
• When the storm caused the power to go out, the kids gathered in the same room with their blankets. At first, it was for comfort, but soon they were spinning scary stories to suit the weather.
• A single bolt split the sky and hit the ground beyond the houses. They had barely registered the brutal flash before the house shook with thunder, and half of the occupants screamed.
• Muted flashes bloomed behind the clouds, distant and uneasy. It was so though the spirits themselves wanted to remind her they were still watching. Still angry.
• The dog barked and whined when the lightning cracked overhead, running under the bed with its tail between its legs.
• The incoming storm was violent. Lightning stitched the horizon together in pale seams against eerie black clouds.
• The bolt came down jagged and feral, tearing through rain and darkness with a violence that left her hands shaking.
• Lightning surged from the cloud and shattered the dark, and for a breathless instant the world felt fragile enough to break.
• The whole family gathered by the windows, watching the beauty of the storm roll in.

Environmental Examples

• Lightning struck somewhere beyond the ridge. A moment later the smell of burning crept in on the wind, sharp and green, like sap set on fire.
• The bolt flashed and every window lit at once. Lightning flooded the rooms so brightly it felt as though the walls had turned transparent.
• Lightning hit close enough to knock the power out, plunging the street into sudden darkness broken only by car alarms screaming awake.
• A strike slammed into the tree line. By the time the thunder finished shaking the ground, one of the trees was split in half and crackling with flame.
• Lightning flashed and the power flickered, buzzing once before dying. The silence that followed was more deafening and seemed to breathe.
• Lightning struck somewhere overhead, and the rain changed instantly—harder, louder—like the storm had been given permission to break.
• The flash came with no warning, lighting the interior of the shuttle as it tried to breech the storm and escape into space.
• A nearby strike sent a shock through the ground, rattling dishes in their cupboards and making the floor feel briefly untrustworthy beneath her feet.

Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very, Very Frightening

Several times in the above, we’ve talked about the emotional affects of lightning. I wanted to touch base on that here. Lightning affects nervous systems for a lot of people. For example, people who are naturally fearful may find that storms trigger a deep, instinctive response that has very little to do with logic. In the case of lightning, it’s unpredictable, overwhelms the senses, and reinforces a lack of control or safety. Even when someone knows they’re physically safe, the body and mind may react as if danger is imminent, flooding with adrenaline, tightening muscles, and sharpening attention in ways that feel exhausting rather than useful.

Note: links in this section go to D-Scripts about writing that emotion

For children, this response is often amplified. Young brains are still learning how to interpret threat, and storms combine several things children find frightening: darkness, loud noise, sudden light, and the inability to stop what’s happening. I mean, my kids didn’t even like the rumble of the car wash! Because children rely heavily on adults to model safety, their fear is often shaped by how the people around them respond. A calm, steady presence can reduce fear over time, while visible anxiety can unintentionally reinforce it.

People with certain mental health conditions—particularly PTSD (this link goes to my personal account for understanding of what PTSD is like), anxiety disorders, or sensory processing sensitivities—may experience storms very differently from the general population. Lightning can mimic sudden flashes associated with traumatic memories, and the lack of predictability can erode a person’s sense of grounding. In these cases, the reaction is not simply fear but a full nervous system response: hypervigilance, dissociation, panic, or emotional flooding. Importantly, these responses are not choices. They’re automatic survival mechanisms that kick in before conscious thought has a chance to have a say.

Animals are often even more sensitive to storms than humans. Many species can hear lower frequencies than we can, meaning thunder may be noticed earlier, seem louder, and be longer-lasting for them. Changes in air pressure, static electricity, and the smell of rain can signal an approaching storm well before the first flash even appears. Pets may hide, pace, vocalize, or cling to familiar people, while wildlife may alter behaviour, seek shelter, or fall silent.

Affects of Being Struck by Lightning

This image isn’t really an affect of being struck by lightning, but what happens just before. This sad story is from 1975. You can click the image to be taken to the news article about it.

The following Daily Mail article has a whole gallery of images of what lightning strikes can look like on survivors. Unfortunately, it didn’t want to imbed so here’s your link!: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/lifestyle/article-6054687/Lightning-strike-survivors-incredible-markings.html

A person may be struck a number of ways:

• Direct Strike: The current passes through the body, potentially causing severe organ damage, burns, and nervous system trauma.
• Ground Current: The most common cause of injury/death; current travels through the ground and up a person’s legs.
• Side Splash: Current jumps from a nearby object or flash to the person.
• Water Current: This is where lightning strikes water that someone is in contact with. Salt water is a better conductor, so the current often travels around the body (this does NOT make it safe), whereas in fresh water, the human body is more conductive than the surrounding water, making it a more direct path for the electrical current.

Being struck by lightning is not the same as being electrocuted by household or industrial electricity. Lightning delivers an enormous amount of energy in an extremely short burst (we’re talking milliseconds). That changes how it interacts with the human body. While lightning strikes are frequently fatal, survival is more common than many people assume, though survivors often experience lasting effects.

• Electrical current may travel over the body rather than through it, which is called a flashover. This might still cause clothing to blow apart or leave branching, fern-like surface burns (Lichtenberg figures). Lichtenberg figures tend to heal over hours or days rather than be permanent.
• Effects on internal systems can be severe! Lightning can disrupt the heart’s electrical rhythm causing cardiac arrest or arrhythmias, and it can interfere with the brain’s signaling leading to loss of consciousness, confusion, memory gaps, or seizures. Respiratory arrest (stopping breathing) may also happen if the muscles controlling breathing are temporarily paralysed. In some cases, a person may appear unresponsive even though the heart can restart on its own, which is why immediate medical attention is critical.
• Neurological effects (these are nerve issues) are among the most common long term consequences. These can include chronic pain, headaches, sensitivity to light or sound, difficulty concentrating, mood changes, sleep disturbances, and problems with balance or coordination. Some report changes in personality or emotional regulation as well.
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1022790/
• Other effects can be the shockwave rupturing eardrums, muscle soreness, cataracts, and hearing loss. Full affects might not be visible immediately as well, and might happen overtime. Thus, anyone hit by lightning (or really any electrical current) should be checked out by a doctor ASAP.

Secondary Injuries

• The explosive force of rapidly heated air may throw a person several metres, leading to blunt trauma, fractures, or spinal injuries. Muscle contractions triggered by the electrical surge can be violent enough to dislocate joints or cause internal damage. Burns may happen from the lightning but also from heated metal objects, jewelers, or electronics in contact with the body.

Social or Cultural Ramifications

• Lightning strikes tended not to be seen as a natural event but as a message, punishment, or selection by divine or supernatural forces. Thus people who were struck were often looked at with suspicion, awe, or fear.
• These reactions could also be from people perceiving a lightning strike survivor as someone who has been altered, marked, or touched by gods or spirits.
• In many cultures, lightning strike survivors were believed to have been judged by gods, spirits, or fate itself. Some were thought to be cursed, others blessed, and some both at once. Sudden personality changes, memory loss, or altered behaviour following a strike reinforced these beliefs. And side effects were often interpreted as possession, madness, or moral corruption.
• In some cultures, survivors were treated as chosen messengers or feared as dangerous conduits of unstable power.
• Lichtenberg figures (patterns on the skin) look very tree-like and could be seen as sacred patterns, or as markings left by the gods.

Misconceptions About Lightning

Lightning never strikes the same place twice. Lightning will happily strike the same spot if conditions favour it.

If it’s not raining, you’re safe from lightning. Lightning can actually strike several kilometres away from a storm cell, even under clear skies!

Lightning always hits the tallest object. Height makes a strike more likely, but it’s not a guarantee it will be struck over other objects. Lightning follows the path of least resistance through charged air, which isn’t always to the tallest thing nearby.

Lightning only happens during severe storms. Lightning can turn up in ordinary thunderstorms that don’t look particularly violent, and even weak-looking storms can produce dangerous strikes.

Rubber soles or rubber tires protect you from lightning. The small amount of rubber in shoes or tires offers no meaningful protection; safety comes from being inside a properly grounded structure or a closed vehicle.

If you’re indoors, you’re completely safe from lightning. While much safer than being outside, lightning can travel through wiring, plumbing, and structural metal, which is why avoiding showers and corded electronics during storms is recommended.

• Describe It: Lightning

• Describe It: Rain

• Ideas for Writing Healing Magic

• Statement About AI Use

• Ideas for Writing Spirit Magic

• Describe It: Emotional Pain / Hurt

• Ideas for Writing Time Magic

• Ideas for Writing Chaos Magic

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Each D-Script can be dozens of hours of work, and we’re not at the point of being able to monetize the site without losing money. If you’re able to contribute even $5 to keeping my sanity intact until we can, it would be appreciated. I love helping people and am not going to stop, but … well, I think we all know what things are like right now!

Sharing this site also helps, if you can’t contribute financially. More traffic=closer to being able to support the site without donations.

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SHONNA WHITE
Artist, Writer, Gamer, and GIANT GEEK

• www.lostinfernal.com

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