More homes are burning in wildfires in nearly every Western state. The reason? Humans.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Lightning
Displaying 1 - 20 of 26 articles
This high voltage experiment isn’t one you’ll be able to try at home.
Lightning doesn’t travel in a straight line, with many so-called ‘leaders’ coming down from the cloud in a series of jagged steps. Until now, no one has known why.
Lightning kills 24,000 people each year. Here’s how to stay safe during an electrical storm.
Fires today are hotter and more destructive, thanks in part to a warming climate.
Tasmania’s drying climate is seeing more bushfires ignited by lightning strikes. To protect the state’s World Heritage wilderness, we must use sustainable fire management practices.
Some trees explode into bits when lightning strikes. Some seem fine and die later. But others are unaffected.
This tool can identify cause of death by fatal lightning strike in skeletonised remains.
Monsoons are weather patterns that bring thunderstorms and heavy rains to hot, dry areas when warm, moist ocean air moves inland. They’re challenging to forecast, especially in a changing climate.
Lightning strikes may have helped spark life on Earth, and may be continuing to help life start on other Earth-like planets.
The method, using satellite data and other information, could reduce the work of fire forensics teams after bushfires.
Persistent heat waves and dry lightning are part of the problem. For firefighters, the erratic behavior gets dangerous quickly.
When you look at the squiggly lines on Joy Division’s famous album cover, you’re seeing a record of lightning in outer space.
Climate change is making Tasmania more vulnerable to brutal fire conditions.
There are many reasons to be careful when there’s a big storm. But there are also ways you can protect yourself to avoid lightning.
When you see a bolt of lightning, do you immediately start counting to see how far off a storm is? An atmospheric scientist parses the practice.
In Star Wars, ‘force lightning’ is a lethal weapon that can only be tackled with a lightsaber. But would it work in real life?
Scientists have finally been able to prove that thunder and lightning drive nuclear reactions.
Lightning strikes are powerful – but we haven’t had solid estimates of their energy until now. Researchers turned to the hollow stone tubes they create by vaporizing sand for more precise calculations.
When Facebook goes down it’s an irritation. But as the world moves its data and processing to the cloud, the potential for major loss grows ever greater.
Top contributors
-
Adjunct Research Professor of Physics, University of South Australia
-
Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
-
Senior Lecturer in Climatology, Director, Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania
-
Head, The Cyber Academy, Edinburgh Napier University
-
Professor of Space Physics, Lancaster University
-
Senior Specialist, University of Pretoria
-
Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Dundee
-
Professor of Meteorology and Climatology, University of California, Santa Barbara
-
Chief Scientist at SA Weather Service: Nowcasting and very short range forecasting and part-time lecturer at the University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria
-
Associate Professor of Forensic Science, Northumbria University, Newcastle
-
Space Plasma Physicist, Imperial College London
-
Tomas Remenyi is a Friend of The Conversation.
Climate Research Fellow, Climate Futures Programme, University of Tasmania
-
Associate Professor of Geosciences, University of South Florida
-
Climate Research Fellow with the Climate Futures Programme, University of Tasmania
