by Superbolts — flashes of lightning that are up to 1,000 times brighter than average — really do exist, two new studies confirm.
A landmark study coined the term in the 1970s, but in the intervening years, experts questioned if superbolts are genuinely brighter than most other lightning, or if they simply appear brighter depending on the angle of the satellite observation.
Recently, after evaluating years of data, scientists confirmed these ultrabright bolts can produce at least 100 gigawatts of power (to put that into perspective, the power produced by all the solar panels and wind turbines in the United States in 2018 was about 163 gigawatts, according to the U.S. Department of Energy).
Lightning forms when electrical charges in clouds and on the ground interact, and in most of these events the clouds are negatively charged.
However, superbolts form during rare cloud-to-ground interactions in which the clouds are positively charged, the scientists reported.
Continued...
Source
A landmark study coined the term in the 1970s, but in the intervening years, experts questioned if superbolts are genuinely brighter than most other lightning, or if they simply appear brighter depending on the angle of the satellite observation.
Recently, after evaluating years of data, scientists confirmed these ultrabright bolts can produce at least 100 gigawatts of power (to put that into perspective, the power produced by all the solar panels and wind turbines in the United States in 2018 was about 163 gigawatts, according to the U.S. Department of Energy).
Lightning forms when electrical charges in clouds and on the ground interact, and in most of these events the clouds are negatively charged.
However, superbolts form during rare cloud-to-ground interactions in which the clouds are positively charged, the scientists reported.
Continued...
Source
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