This is Planet Earth by New Scientist

Author:New Scientist
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2018-02-20T16:00:00+00:00

Thunderstorms

When the Sun’s heat is strong enough, the upward-moving thermals create puffy-topped cumulus clouds. In some cases, the tops of these cauliflower-shaped clouds may reach the top of the troposphere. In the upper parts of these clouds, freezing temperatures create ice and snow, and collisions between these particles separate electric charge. When the charge difference builds up to a critical level, a lightning bolt strikes, reuniting the positive and negative charges.

The cumulus cloud is now a cumulonimbus cloud – a thunderstorm. As well as providing life-sustaining rains for most of the planet, thunderstorms also bring hazards. The world’s heaviest rainfall events are invariably caused by thunderstorms; the heavy rainfall of tropical cyclones is due to the thunderstorms embedded within them. Severe thunderstorms can generate destructive straight-line winds with speeds up to 240 kilometres per hour and generate hailstones as large as grapefruits. Finally, thunderstorms spawn nature’s most violent windstorm – the tornado.

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