LIGHTNING

How common are deaths by lightning?

• As a whole, India sees 2,000-2,500 lightning deaths every year on average. Lightning is the biggest contributor to accidental deaths due to natural causes.
  
  
• And yet, lightning remains among the least studied atmospheric phenomena in the country.
  
  
• Just one group of scientists, at the Indian Institute of Tropical Management (IITM) in Pune, works full-time on thunderstorms and lightning.
  
  

Ground currents

• Lightning rarely hits people directly — but such strikes are almost always fatal.
  
  
• People are most commonly struck by what are called “ground currents”. The electrical energy, after hitting a large object (such as a tree) on Earth, spreads laterally on the ground for some distance, and people in this area receive electrical shocks.
  
  
• It becomes more dangerous if the ground is wet (which it frequently is because of the accompanying rain), or if there is metal or other conducting material on it.