Microbursts are intense downdrafts from thunderstorms — they have caused numerous plane crashes during takeoff and landing.
Fact #7851
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St. Elmo's Fire is a plasma glow around ship masts and aircraft during thunderstorms — mistaken for supernatural fire.
Fact #7419 · Nature
Bioluminescent forests — trees glowing in the dark — have been filmed in Brazil using extremely sensitive cameras.
Fact #7442 · Nature
A bolt of lightning is only about as wide as a thumb — the bright flash makes it appear much wider.
Fact #3813 · Nature
Some plants can survive long periods of drought.
Fact #339 · Nature
Heat lightning is ordinary lightning from a storm too far away for thunder to be heard.
Fact #7439 · Nature
Seed banks like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault preserve the genetic diversity of the world's crops.
Fact #8905 · Nature
A single lightning bolt contains about one billion joules of energy but lasts only a fraction of a second.
Fact #4704 · Nature
Your lifetime odds of being struck by lightning are about 1 in 15,000.
Fact #2831 · Nature
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