New Delhi:
Natural disasters are increasing due to climate change. Surprisingly, the most deaths in these disasters are due to lightning. Every year more people are killed by floods, landslides and storms due to lightning. Lightning incidents often do not come in the headlines. But these incidents kill more people than any natural disaster in the world. We should take precautions to protect against lightning and spread awareness.
22 people died due to lightning
In the last two days, the weather has suddenly taken up in a large area of North India. Clouds have been clouded in the areas struggling with the scorching heat. In many places, strong winds and thunderstorms have gone and it has rained. Holes have fallen as well as electricity. In Delhi and NCR too today, there was drizzle with strong thunderstorms and lightning shone. Due to this sudden seasonal change, the crop of wheat standing in the fields has been drenched in many places in North India, and there has been a loss of life and property in many places. The biggest loss has been in Bihar where at least 61 people have died. Out of these, 39 people died of hail and other incidents related to rain and 22 people died due to lightning.
According to the Disaster Management Department of Bihar, the maximum number of 23 people have died in Nalanda district of Bihar due to weather. After this, 6 people have died in Bhojpur, four each in Siwan, Gaya, Patna and Sheikhpura, three in Jamui and two in Jehanabad. Many houses and buildings have also been damaged due to lightning. Expressing condolences to the casualties, the Chief Minister of Bihar has announced a compensation amount of four lakh rupees for the families of the deceased. In Uttar Pradesh too, at least 22 people are reported to have been killed in the incidents related to thunderstorms and lightning. Many people have died due to rain and lightning in Nepal too.
Can it be predicted?
The big question is why the lightning incidents do not make headlines and whether it can be predicted and what should be done to avoid it. How terrible the power falling from the sky can be. Due to lightning, many times the trees caught fire, they fall. Many times, even the big tall buildings also suffer heavy losses and there are reports of people being burnt and killed by lightning. Due to this nature of lightning, it is also called thunderstorms and often in idioms, suddenly a big disaster is called lightning. That is, there was no time to escape.
As we told that in any natural disaster, most people are casualties due to lightning. Like we are showing you some figures which are confirming this. According to data from National Crime Records Bureau – 2022, in 2022, 8060 people died due to natural disasters across the country. Of these, 2887 people i.e. 35.8% people were killed due to lightning. In 2022, about 24 thousand people died due to lightning worldwide, out of which 2887 people were killed in India alone. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau itself, in 2021, 7126 deaths occurred due to seasonal reasons, out of which more than 40% of lightning was caused by lightning.
According to the data, between 2000 and 2021, 49,000 people died due to lightning. According to NCRB data itself, between 1967 and 2020, more than one lakh people (1,01,309) have died due to lightning. Fakir Mohan University of Balasore, Odisha has published a report in this magazine Environment, Development and Sustainability last year.
What is the most harm?
The biggest damage caused by lightning is to those who live in the open during the storm and the farmers are the most damaged, whose crop is destroyed. Due to working in open fields, there is the highest possibility of their loss of lightning and especially when they stand under trees during lightning. There is a great need to make people aware in this regard. The Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Department have been making people aware of this for the past several years.
Lightning records on historical buildings
Many historical buildings in the world also record damage due to lightning. An identity of Delhi, Qutub Minar .. 1193 This was started by Qutub Ud Deen Aibak and in 1220, which was completed by Iltutmish. The Archaeological Department of India has mentioned in its World Heritage Series Travel Guide that in 1368 AD, there was lightning on Qutub Minar, causing damage to its top floor. Later Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq got it repaired and two floors were built. Then white marble was used on this red sandstone building. That is why the two men above Qutub Minar look different from the rest of the floors. In 1670, Hyderabad’s identity Charminar was also damaged due to lightning, which was later repaired.
Why lightning on old historical and tall buildings causes so much damage. Before knowing this, they understand why electricity is fierce. Everyone must have seen such pictures in the sky which sometimes thrill and sometimes scare a lot. In the rainy season, especially every day, we all feel like lightning and clouds. Eyes are dazzled with strong lightning and after a moment a loud sound resonates in the ears. Many times this voice also causes panic.
Now they understand why the electricity is hard
During the storm storm, when clouds rise up due to strong wind, they increase moisture. In such a situation, due to low temperature at the height, moisture in the upper parts of the clouds turns into ice particles. In the middle parts of the clouds, a mixture of small particles of ice and small hail floats in the air and in the lower parts, rain drops and melting small hailstorms float in strong wind. Due to the strong wind rising from the bottom, there is a frequent collision and friction between them, which causes electric charge in these moist particles, that is, they become charged. The clouds have positive charge in light particles of ice on the top, while in the clouds there is a negative charge in heavy hail. Due to the formation of a negative charge at the bottom in the clouds, it inspires the positive charge to be generated towards the ground below. Due to this, a potential difference is produced between the cloud and the ground. When this voltage reaches a fixed limit, the air between the lower part of the cloud and the ground suddenly flows rapidly, which we see like lightning. This opposite charge also causes lightning in the middle of the clouds. Due to lightning, the air around it is heated to 25 thousand degrees Celsius. There is a possibility of falling on them before electricity due to the formation of a positive charge over tall buildings or high trees.
Lightning on trees or buildings can lead to fire, it can break. Electricity can also fall into an open field and if a person stands in such an open place, then he can also become a victim of electricity. Scorching can lose life. Even if someone survives, he is prone to a lot of physical loss. Due to lightning, so much electric energy is passed that it can harm the body in every way. Can even handicap.
There are also ways to avoid sky lightning. For example, to protect buildings from lightning, lightning protection system should be installed in them. For this, lightning rods should be used at the top of the building, which will make the power fall from the sky directly into the ground and it does not cause damage to the building. It is used in buildings built nowadays. However, negligence is also taken in many places. The coverage of lightning protection systems in urban areas in India is just 2% and it is zero in rural areas. Lightning Protection System is not installed in many historical buildings, so there is damage due to lightning in them.
Electricity can also fall on people and can cause death. To avoid this, it is necessary that during the storm, do not get out in open grounds or fields during the storm. Do not stand in any high place. Do not stand under a high thing such as a tree or something that can cause electricity to flow. Stay indoors and stay away from the window, doors. If you are outside, then sit inside the car. Do not swim in water. Do not fly kites. Avoid using machinery. If you are trapped in a field, then sit down and sit down.
A volunteer organization named CropC, which is working with many government institutions and Meteorological Department working with the Meteorological Department, has also run a voluntary organization named Promotion Council to make aware of the disasters caused by lightning and to minimize deaths.
According to this campaign, between 2019-20 and 20-21 lightning incidents increased by 34%, while between 2020–21 and 2021-22 declined 19.5%. One of the reasons for the reduction of lightning incidents was stated that pollution was reduced due to lockdown during Kovid 19. Aerosol levels in the air and the weather in the Indian subcontinent remained more or less stable.
Many studies suggest that due to increasing pollution and the heat of the earth, the possibility of lightning increases. According to a study released in 2014 by the US University of California, the increase in the average temperature of air in the world will increase by 12% in lightning incidents. Another study has been done by Indian scientists. According to a study published in July 2022 by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ambedkar University and The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, according to a study, the increase in the density of aerosols and carbon dioxide in the air is with the intensity of lightning.
According to the report, the increase of lightning incidence in India and the world is directly related to the intensity of thunderstorms and their freightness i.e. frequency. Storm storms are directly related to the air temperature and the presence of moisture in the atmosphere and it also causes storms. Due to increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, air temperature is also increasing and moisture levels are also coming more and due to this lightning incidents are also coming. So it is clear that with the heat of the earth, the incidence of lightning is also sure to increase.
We found some interesting facts on the website of the Meteorological Department of England, such as estimates that there are an average of 3 million incidents of lightning in the world everyday. That is, 44 in every second. It means that electricity on the earth is being tight at all times. When electricity falls, its length can be two to three kilometers, that is, electricity can fall on the ground from such a height and its width can be just two to three centimeters. But the charge that comes through this channel can heat the air temperature up to 30 thousand degrees Celsius, which is enough to consume anyone.
An interesting fact was also found that the power of lightning helps plants grow. Nitrogen is very important for growing plants. Due to lightning, nitrogen present in the atmosphere, in collaboration with oxygen, forms nitrogen oxide which combines with the moisture present in the air falls in the form of rain and plants use it.
(tagstotranslate) climate change
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