Let’s Find Out Why Lightning Superbolts Are More Common Over the Ocean

 When marine scientist Mustafa Asfur made a tiny storm in a box, he found a prospective solution to a long-standing riddle- Why bolts of lightning are brighter over the ocean compared to overland.

Above 90 per cent of lightning bolts strike over the continents. However, the lightning that strikes the ocean can be far more intense. Rare super bolts, with flashes 100 or 1,000 times brighter and more powerful than a regular bolt, are much more likely to hit the ocean. The reason is debatable.

Asfur, presently employed at the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel, had set out to probe how lightning bolts impact water chemistry. He found out that at least in the lab, lightning-like discharges are brighter over saltwater than over freshwater or soil.

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