Friday, June 4th, 2010

Summer Science: Lightning

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Lightning is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the atmospheric sciences, researchers say. Scientists at the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing in Florida are inducing lightning to strike so they can understand it better. (Credits: Video footage courtesy of Martin Uman, University of Florida and Tom A. Warner, ztresearch.com. Cover photo by Jared Smith/flickr. Produced by Flora Lichtman ) Viewed 36701 times. See More Videos

Though summer doesn't begin officially for a few weeks, one of the signature marks of summer may already be in the air near you -- the evening thunderstorm. Thousands of lightning strikes occur on the planet every minute, but the summer heat and humidity help to ramp up the number of lightning-producing thunderstorms. We'll talk about the science of lightning.