My theme for my 2015 A to Z Challenge came from my
Disaster Crimes series. Disasters are a theme in each story, so it got me
thinking about all the disasters that occur from natural disasters to manmade
disasters.
Today’s
disasters are...
LIMNIC
ERUPTION and LIGHTNING STORM
A Limnic Eruption
is a rare natural disaster that occurs (possibly due to earthquakes, and
volcanic activity) when dissolved carbon dioxide erupts from deep lake water,
also called a lake overture, which suffocates nearby wildlife, livestock and
humans.
Fortunately, this phenomenon has only been recorded
twice; once at Lake Monoun in 1984 killing 38 people and Lake Nyos in 1986
killing a staggering 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock. (Both in the Cameroon region of Central Africa.)
A Lightning Storm (also
known as an electrical storm) is a
storm that produces a significant amount of lightning. Lightning can travel
from cloud to cloud, from a cloud to the ground, and from a cloud to itself.
FACT: Lightning
occurs approximately 40–50 times a second on earth. That’s nearly 1.4 billion flashes
per year.
Difference between a lightning storm and a thunderstorm: A lightning storm is when lightning is visibly seen striking the earth several times during a storm. Thunderstorms are when you mostly here thunder and maybe see flashes of lightning. Lightning storms are actually a phenomena.
Difference between a lightning storm and a thunderstorm: A lightning storm is when lightning is visibly seen striking the earth several times during a storm. Thunderstorms are when you mostly here thunder and maybe see flashes of lightning. Lightning storms are actually a phenomena.
Some Science For You: In a lightning storm, the clouds are charged like
batteries. The top of the cloud is positive and the bottom is negative, which
is caused by charge separation when rising moisture collides with ice or sleet.
When there is charge separation there is also an electric field. The strength
of this electric field depends upon the amount of charge build up in the
clouds. The electric field then breaks down the surrounding air, creating a
conductor of electricity, and creates a conductive path to the earth’s surface.
Objects on earth’s surface respond to the electric field and reach out with
purplish streamers. When the two connect and the current flows you get
lighting. The air around the strike becomes extremely hot and explodes, and
that’s yours thunder. So the more charge separation in a cloud, the
more lightning there is.
QUESTIONS: Do
you like thunderstorms? Or do you hide under your covers like I do? Have you (or someone you know) ever come close to getting hit by lightning?
I like thunderstorms, as long as I'm watching them from a distance, indoors!
ReplyDeleteA limnic eruption sounds horrifying. Let's hope one is never recorded again.
That's the best place to be during a lightning storm.
DeleteLet's hope!
Pleased to say that neither of these are problems in New Zealand. We rarely have lightening.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky!
DeleteI'd never heard of a Limnic Eruption. That's rather terrifying.
ReplyDeleteWe get a lot of thunderstorms here. They're peaceful when they aren't too violent. (Because then you have to worry about more than just a thunderstorm.)
I hadn't either until this Challenge. ;)
DeleteI love thunder storms, although I do rush around the house making sure electronics are unplugged :) There is nothing quite so powerful as the rumble of thunder after the flash of lightning.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
That flash and that rumble makes a scary combo.
DeleteI am not a lover of thunder storms as the lightening upset my epilepsy.
ReplyDeleteThis looked awful. They get bad thunderstorms in Spain, but not as bad as what you have shown. Good post all the same.
Yvonne.
I can understand that, Yvonne.
DeleteI absolutely love thunder storms. Lightning is my favorite thing to watch. Although I wouldn't want to get struck!
ReplyDeleteLightning can be neat too watch.
DeleteYour pictures are amazing! I have a love/hate relationship with lightening storms.
ReplyDeleteI liked looking for good pictures for this Challenge. :) So do I.
DeleteWhen they were younger my boys were scared of thunder storms. I remembered how one time my eldest ran to me and hugged me for dear life.
ReplyDeleteAw!!! That's so sweet.
DeleteFirst I've heard of such an eruption. Thunderstorms don't bother me, let the lightning fly
ReplyDeleteYou can have all the lightning you want in your neck of the woods. ;)
DeleteI've never heard of a limnic eruption. That picture looks so eerie!
ReplyDeleteNeither had I before I needed an L disaster. I thought it was neat that I'd be sharing something no one probably knew about.
DeleteI never realised lightning storms were so frequent. A limnic eruption sounds very primordial.
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep
Lightning can pop up anywhere.
DeleteGrowing up I loved thunder storms, and I continued to love them until we moved to the Midwest smack dab in tornado alley. The storms were horrendous there. We moved back to the east again and I once again enjoy thunderstorms. The difference between them here and the Midwest is same as the difference between a purring kitten and a roaring lion.
ReplyDeleteOur baby was shocked by lightning while we lived in the Midwest. She was having a bath. It was that horrible experience that taught me to stay away from water, even inside a house, during thunder storms.
I can only imagine how bad the storms are in Tornado Alley.
DeleteOh my goodness! That's horrible. I'm glad she's okay. Yes, when it starts to storm while I'm washing the dishes, I stop.
Danger set aside, lightning is gorgeous. Another very informative post! =)
ReplyDeleteLightning can be spectacular.
DeleteNever heard of a limnic eruption before. How frightening! Lightening storms, I've seen plenty, but these days, I try not to look. Bright flashes of light are migraine triggers for me. I worry more about my computer getting zapped than getting hurt myself.
ReplyDeleteOuch! And no one likes a migraine.
DeleteI worry about my computer too.
Whoa, I hadn't heard of a limnic eruption. Weird. I do love a good thunderstorm, but lightning is a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary!
DeleteWow I've never heard of a limnic eruption. How scary and horrible!
ReplyDeleteIt was a new event for me too.
DeleteOver a billion flashes a year! Now the phrase, lighting doesn't strike twice in the same spot doesn't seem so plausible. And suffocation. Gosh, some scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteLightning could definitely strike twice in the same spot. Especially if it happens in two different occasions.
DeleteWe have this superstitious belief in Nigeria, that when you see a lightning, you quickly make the sign of the cross so that when the thunder comes it doesn't strike you. Funny thing is I still do it subconsciously when I see a lightning for no reason. Lol
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting superstition. But does thunder strike?
DeleteIn what country are those lakes? I've never heard of limnic eruption before and hope I never see one in real life. That is scary. I didn't used to be afraid or nervous during "thunderstorms" as we call them, but lately, due to my computer and everything connecting me to the outside world being electrically run, I don't like them at all. I'm always afraid lightening will strike my house! It struck right beside a friend's house and blew out three of their vehicles, and the TV's etc. in the house! What a pain to have to replace everything! I miss liking them, the emotion I felt while the wildness of nature took its course around me. Sometimes I tell myself to just get over it and enjoy. Our former dog had conniption fits whenever a storm came on. The one we have now could care less. Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
ReplyDeleteI had to do a little research on that but both of those lakes are in the Cameroon region in Central Africa.
DeleteA lightning storm is a little different...its when lightning is visible seen striking the earth several times during a storm. Thunderstorms are when you mostly here thunder and maybe see flashes of lightning. Lightning storms are actually a phenomena.
I love lightning storms but I respect them. They're so powerful and majestic.
ReplyDeleteIts a good to respect all forms of mother nature. Especially when she's at her worst.
DeleteI do like thunderstorms but seeing actual bolts of lightning has always freaked me out.
ReplyDeleteFreaks me out too.
DeleteI absolutely LOVE thunder storms. If it's going to rain, I'm not a big fan, but if it suddenly becomes a thunder storm? Sign me up for a few hours at least.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was that optimistic when it storms here.
DeleteI enjoy thunder and lightning, but we don't get severe ones in Michigan.
ReplyDelete~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Seems like Michigan doesn't get much but snow. lol
DeleteI've also never heard of a lymnic eruption before. We've had plenty of thunderstorms in Chicago, and the scariest part is driving in them. Fascinating photos, Chrys!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Driving in them is pretty scary.
DeleteLightning storms... I'm not a fan, but I don't hide from them either. I'd never heard of a limnic eruption before.
ReplyDeleteWell, I may not hide, but I jump and flinch and want to hide. ;)
DeleteI love thunderstorms, although I did drive through one that scared the hell out of me. I was driving home one night and the area I was driving through was pretty flat. The lightning was coming down either side of the road as I drove down it - my heart was beating really fast, even though I knew the physics and it wouldn't have mattered if the car was struck.
ReplyDeleteSophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
FB3X
Wittegen Press
That sounds intense!
DeleteWow, I've never heard of a limnic eruption. Great info, Chrys. I am a little afraid of thunder and lightening however, if you're indoors you're fairly safe. You don't want to be on a golf course holding an iron (golf club). What do they say? Your chances of being struck by lightening are greater than winning the lottery, sadly.
ReplyDeleteThose odds suck! lol When it's lightning, even in the distance, I say I'll get struck by lightning if I go outside because of the metal in my back. :P
DeleteMy husband loves lightening storms.
ReplyDeleteA lot of guys seem to. lol
DeleteThis is why I love #the Challenge...finding fellow writers who have their own personal spot to fill. Your theme choice is unique. I love learning new things. If you have a minute, come and see what I'm up to.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Stepheny. :) I will definitely see what you're up to.
DeleteI'm not a fan of lightening storms. Our house got hit by lightening once, while we were not home, thank God, but I lost every single electronic device we owned because of it. Including my computer, with my WIP on it. Ugh. Had to start all over again...I was already 350 pages in. Long story short, now I back up and back up my back up and back up that too.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I couldn't imagine having to buy all of those electrical appliances again. And that you lost your WIP. That is tragic! I know how that is. Backing up is the best thing a writer can do.
DeleteI love thunderstorms. As far as lightning, I find them fascinating, yet, terrorizing! I don't hide from them, though!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Mount Vesuvius had a limnic eruption and no one was able to record it? What do you think?
Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
My Little Pony
Ha! I exaggerated a bit about hiding. :)
DeleteIt's possible.
The Limnic explosion sounds awful! No early warning and incredibly deadly to so many. I've never heard lighting explained. It makes electricity so interesting. I love that the objects on earth, "reach out with purple streamers." It makes it sound like even metal is alive :)
ReplyDeleteYou can find me here:
ClarabelleRant
You can find me here:
Everything is alive. ;)
DeleteI was wondering how you'd find a disaster for every letter of the alphabet but you're managing just fine--more than fine. I have a real fright of thunderstorms but my novel contains a lightning storm. Thanks for these details. Keep 'em coming.
ReplyDeleteHehe. I'm clever. ;) I have one for every letter.
DeleteYou're welcome, Stephanie!
Had a friend knocked out cold by a lightening strike. Actually, it traveled up from the ground through his left tennis shoe. He was running track at the junior high school. He sustained a few burns but two weeks later was back out running. The school removed trees and limbs near the track.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I've heard about that happening. I'm glad he was able to keep on running after that. And I'm also glad the school removed the trees around the track.
DeleteI remember my brother and I watching a lightening storm-We were outside and just mesmerized by it. It was dancing from cloud to cloud and breaking into several branches. The sky was a beautiful deep blue. My mom got freaked out and we had to come inside(good thinking mom!). The next day we heard a bad tornado hot through Woodstock, Ontario. I love thunderstorms but my mom hated them( reminded her of bombs going off). I know of no one who was hit by lightening thanfully
ReplyDeleteLightning is very memorizing. I remember watching heat lightning as a kid and thinking that was eerie but cool.
DeleteThose Limnic eruptions look like they're pouring carbon into the air. That second disaster took an amazing number of lives.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't look like it'll help with air pollution, does it?
DeleteA limnic eruption sounds way worse than a lightning storm. I always like thunderstorms, but that eruption would make me go into hiding.
ReplyDeleteThose eruptions are scary.
DeleteI love lightening and thunder storms! Fascinating info on limnic eruptions!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna!
DeleteWow - what a fascinating theme. I want to go back and look at all of the posts I've missed. May have to wait until after the challenge is over, then I can breathe. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane! The list will be growing at the bottom of each post for when you have time. :)
DeleteI've never heard of the underwater one! My dad was electrocuted in high school and was wearing Converse shoes at the time. He still has little scars on the insides of his feet where the little metal eyelets were...
ReplyDeleteOuch! Good thing those little scars are all he has from that and he was okay afterward.
DeleteThunderstorms don't scare me, it's the lightning that I worry about. In elementary school, someone's mother was hit by lightning when picking up her child from school. I didn't see it, thank goodness. I have great respect for the power of weather and the earth.Where I lived as a child it was flat, so we had tornadoes, thunder and lightning on a frequent basis.(southeast US)
ReplyDeleteLightning is the worse, but thunder can sure make it even scarier when you hear that BOOM! That's so sad! I hope the mother was okay after that.
DeleteLightening scares the hell out of me. I've never even heard of a limbic eruption. I learn something new every minute. I thought about your theme last week and over the weekend. I took my boys to our fishing cabin on Caddo lake (a huge lake in Louisiana and Texas) and we had to evacuate one day and head to a hotel in the nearest city. One night we had to join several of the locals who live on the lake year round at the boat launch/mercantile store. We all piled into a cement enclosed restroom to weather the storm. Tornados were spotted and were touching down all around us, but our small area was spared. We still endured 60 mph winds, flooding and flying debris. It was scary. Of course, teenage boys have no fear and they loved it. They thought it was the biggest adventure they'd ever experienced. I though of your disaster theme often during our excursion.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds super scary. There are been a lot of tornadoes recently. I'm glad your area wasn't hit. I feel both proud that you thought of my theme and sorry because I know this theme isn't a happy one, and when you're going through something like that, you don't want to read about other disasters.
DeleteI do like thunderstorms. I've not heard of limnic eruptions before. So neat and yet frightening.
ReplyDeleteI'[m glad you like them. We can switch places whenever there's a bad storm here. ;)
DeleteIn college, I lived in the dorms nicknamed "Towers." 13 Floors, and I lived on the 10th. But our room faced the Mississippi, and we could see thunderstorms passing. Lightning would strike the river. It was incredible.
ReplyDeleteThat does sound incredible! :)
DeleteI am so glad I have never encountered a limnic eruption. You show a picture of Surtsey but that's not in the Cameroons is it? No I don't hide from thunderstorms but I used to have one dog who was as brave as a lion until it came to thunder. He would try and push himself into my legs. You could fire a gun and he wouldn't care, but thunder, different thing.
ReplyDeleteSurtsey is a volcanic island near Iceland. I couldn't find pictures of limnic eruptions. This was the closest I could find.
DeleteHi Chrys. I hadn't heard of the Limnic Eruption which although rare sounds terrifying. I'm an old friend of lightning storms having lived in Darwin, the Northern Territory of Australia for 3 months. Every afternoon a storm would hit in the wet season and would continue all afternoon into the night. The lightning has to be seen to be believed. I must post some of them one day, hahahaha. The ground would shake like an earthquake. I soon got over my fear of storms or I would have spent hours under the bed every day, lol!
ReplyDeleteThose storms sound really bad. I guess you'd have to get over your fear when there's one every day.
DeleteI love lightning storms- especially if I am somewhere safe! :)
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of a limnic eruption. Those sound very scary. Thank goodness there haven't been very many recorded!
~Jess
Thanks for commenting, DMS!
DeleteI love thunder/lightening storms as long as there is no damage caused by them. My mother's mother was deathly afraid of storms so when we still lived in Pennsylvania that got a lot of thunderstorms in summer, when my mom would hear the storm approaching, she would gather us up and go over to my grandmother's house because she didn't like to be alone during a storm. I kind of didn't like leaving what we were doing to go over there; there was a language barrier between us and our grandmother, she didn't speak English, we didn't speak Polish, so my mom would be comforting her during the storm and we had to play with whatever until we could go back home. Even at my young age of 7, I "vowed" never to be afraid of storms and not to have my kids if I had them be afraid of storms. So we went the opposite way almost, being outside on the porch watching storms, looking out close to windows, all the things you aren't supposed to do. But they love a good storm like a do. I'm looking forward to the monsoon season here which they say there are good storms.
ReplyDeleteI had a second cousin's husband who got struck by lightening and died. They were at a picnic with the extended family; they saw the storm coming up. They were packing up to go under a shelter. He was carrying a metal ice container and got struck.
betty
Your grandmother's fear sounds like it was an intense one. How sweet of your mom to be so worried about her though.
DeleteOh, I'm so sorry to hear about your second cousin's husband. That's terrible!
I've never heard of limnic eruptions--that sounds really scary! Personally, I love thunderstorms. I find them inspiring, except for the fact that they terrify one of my cats. I have to hold her the entire time, and she trembles and hides. Pretty heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteMy cats are slowly getting used to storms, but if it's really bad they will hide.
DeleteI love lightening storms. Of course from afar!
ReplyDeleteOf course! ;)
DeleteI guess their rarity explains why I've never heard of them. Living in SoCal., I like lightening storms, but my mom being from Louisiana,, hates them.
ReplyDeleteScribbles From Jenn - Visiting from the A to Z Challenge
I wonder if people living in certain places tend to love lightning storms more or hate them more.
DeleteInteresting stuff, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of that before (lightning yes, the other, no). Makes me not want to take up lake front property after all. :)
ReplyDeleteYou can have faith that it's a rare event, though.
DeleteMy cousin LOVES thunderstorms and talking about well she sleeps through them, and I'm always tucking my ears under the pillows in the middle of the night trying to get back to sleep. >:(
ReplyDeleteLimnic eruptions sound terrifying.
I hate thunderstorms at night. I can't sleep because I'm always jumpy.
DeleteI absolutely love thunder and lightning, as well as all the names with meanings related to these two natural phenomena. I've seen pink lightning at least once, when I was on the Hampshire College campus for a meeting of the Student Alliance for Israel, which took turns meeting at some of the five local campuses.
ReplyDeleteEven though I know the basic scientific principles behind thunder and lightning, I'm not the only Who freak who likes to imagine our dear departed bassist, John Alec Entwistle, giving a concert every time there's a thunderstorm, since one of his nicknames was Thunderfingers. It often seems to heavily rain and thunder around his death anniversary, which makes the image even stronger.
Pink lightning? That must be something!
DeleteWow! I never knew this existed. Thanks for the education, Chrys!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Karen!
DeleteHi Chrys .. this too sounds awful .. death by suffocations .. not nice .. Hilary
ReplyDeleteNot nice at all.
DeleteLeapin Lizards! I'd never heard of Limnic Eruptions - how ghastly! I do however have a healthy respect for lightning; having been struck twice.
ReplyDelete:O You've been struck twice?!?! I am so glad you're okay from that.
DeleteI'm never heard of a Limnic eruption before- that's a new one one me!
ReplyDeleteAnd I wrote a story about a woman who gets struck by lightning and begins to change her molecular composition as a result for the last NaNoWriMo I participated in- did a lot of research on lightning strikes for it- fascinating stuff!
That sounds like an interesting story, Beverly! :) I bet a lot of research went into it.
DeleteI love your lightning image! Had to pin that.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a limnic eruption before. Interesting.
Awesome! Pin away. :D
Delete