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Orono Weekly TImes~ Wodneuday~ August ~4, 1094 -? Keepiflg in Touch LI GHTNING Ligbtning is one of nature's most spectacular aeriai displays. k_ However, it and the accompanying thunder can be one of the most startling and scary natural phenomena. The sutiden brilliant flash fellowed by a-ieud clap of thunder wiil, in mest cases, cause even the Ieast nervous of us, te flincb, if not jump. Most of the lightning We see is the cioud te gro und variety. However, these are not the most common eues. More common are the flashes witbin ciouds. Lightning may aise flash between ciouds and may even flasb upwards from ciouds inte the atmosphere. We aise see tbunderless or "beat ligbtning" a flash of ligbtning without thunder. Actualiy there is ne sucb thing. What we do see is a flash that is se far away, 60 km or More (25 miles), that the sound of the- thunder dissipates before it reaches us. Each age has hiad its own interpretation of what thunder and ligbtning is. Aristotie, the Greek philosopher, (284-322 B.C.) tbought iigbtning was burning wind. In Roman times Lucretius (95-55 B.C.) thougbt thunder and iigbtning were caused by clouds bumping together. In the 4th century B.C. they were credited te a bad tempereddeity burling celestiai javelins. During the middle ages church beils were rung te try and disperse the lightning boits. The practice was finaily abandoned after ceuntless bell ringers were eiectrocuted. It was Benjamin Franklin Who, in 1752, fiew a kite in a tbunderstorm finally preving that iightning was electrical in nature. He was fortunate. The next twe people Who tried this experiment were eiectrocuted. Knowing that iigbtning was lectrical did net beip te expiain what caused the accempanying clap of thunder. Eariy 2th century scientists thougbt, the ightning boit caused a vacuum te form aong its path, and thunder was the sound of air rushing in te fi it. We now knew that a ligbtning streke heats the air, around it te extremely bigh temperatures (30,000 degrees Celsius [54,000 degrees FI) five, times botter mhan the surface of tbe sun. This super heated air expands explosiveiy generating the sound waves we hear as mhunder. If you ceunt the seconds between when you see mhe flash and wben you bear the thunder and divide by 3, mhe answer will vield the approximate distance, in, lometres, between you and the flash. Most iigbtning We see is associated with cumulus ciouds (cleuds of vertical development). In tmeir benign ferm they are the fair weamher cumulus we see on a summer day, with fiat bottems and caulifiower-iike tops. These clouds may be as much as 1.6 km (1 mile) taîl. In their more malevolent form mhey are knewn as cumulonimbus clouds and range in vertical development up te 13 km (8 miles). They are mee black clouds we associate with thunder and lightning sterms. In tme early 1900's Nobel prize winner Charles Wilson measured the electricai charge of ciouds in a cloud chamber he developed. H1e tbeorized that iightning occurs> wben clouds beceme electrically cbarged, positive on top and negative at the base. Modem day sampiing bas proven Wilson correct. However, scientists are still arguing about how this charge separation deveieps. There are many things contributiug te mhis phenemenon. A few of them are a) mhe pewerful up draugbts and down drafts within mhe cioud, b) within cloud collisions between solid and liquid particles and c) the spiintering of charged ice crystals during the freezing of cloud water dreplets. DavidPbillips, the weatber guru on the TV weatber network, in his book "The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry" states, in well developed clouds, a tremendous difference grows ini the electrical potential between the upper and lower regions within the cioud, and between the ground and-tme cloud base. The air between the cloud and the ground is a poor conducter. At first notbing bappens. However. when this potential reaches about a billion volts the insuiating air can resist ne longer. An invisible- discharge called a "leader" snakes downwards towards the earth in discreet microsecond steps, When this leader cornes withiu about 100 meters (330 ft.) of the ground, a postively cbarged leader moves up from the ground, especialiy from protruding objects such as trees and buildings, te meet it. (Remnember the advice "do't take sheiter under trees or by other tal structures in a lightning storm"?) Once these twe leaders meet the return stroke rises up from the ground te the base of the cioud following the leader channel (yes iigbtning strikes are from ground te cioud). In as littie as 50 miiiiseconds the charges may build up again and flash up and down the same channel until the charge is neutraiized. These multiple strokes usually iast for iess than a quarter of a second, and this is why, te our eye, iigbtning sometimes appears te fiicker. The speed of these strokes approaches 140,000 km per second (8,700 mps). A rocket travelling at this speed would reach the moon in less than three seconds. Ligbtning is mucb more common than we may think. It is estimated that world wide, at any eue time there are 2,000 active thunderstorms, resuiting in 100 iigbtning strikes and hundreds more flashes per second. In Canada ligtning starts about 40% of the forest fires and is responsible, on the average, for about 15 deaths per year. Se the next time yeu' See lightning or hear the roll of News and Information from Gord Milis, MPP Durham East As the date for the provincial election draws nearer, I have been approached by many people, asking if I intend te seek re- election. In my last week's column 1 said, "Anyone elected te serve at the Ontario Legisiature needs te be a peculiar thick-skinned workaholic who bas a populist's rapport with people but an inteilectual's understanding of problems and issues, if she or he is te juggle the responsibilities the position entails and prosper ini the rougb and tumble world of legisiative politics." Given the above criteria I can say I have become very thick- skinned, I consider myseif te be a workaholic,- I'm told, by preminent members of ail tbree political parties at Queen's Park, that if peeple can't get along with me they ceuldn't get along witb anyone, se that sbould take care of the populist's rapport, I bave juggled the responsibilities the position of MPP entails, and I have lived a life-time of ups and downs whicb has prepared me well te understand the problems faced by my peers. Added te the above, I ar nont in ýpolitics for the money and tbat's for reaL. I don't have an ego that needs neurisbing by feeling "important" or sometbing like that. I arn one of those people thunder rmember that while the lightning storm is a natural occurring phenomenon it is aise a very powerful and inherently dangerous event for those who do net take the proper precautions. by Bll Bunting who always has to have something to do. It may seem cerny, -but at the end of the day, week, montb, I feel good about helping people. That by itself is enough for me to continue on, to serve you, and that means ail of you, te the best of my abiity. Many people have said te me, "wbat does your wife have to say about you seeking re-election at an age when most people are heading for their rocking chair?" 1 can reply very honestly. My wife and 1 have been happily married now for 46 years. She bas told me that she. is happy when 1 arn happy, and if l'in bappy as an MPP then she is equally happy for me. Se there you are. I can look at myseif today and 1 know that I have worked bard te serve everyone. Many good things have happened in the riding, ail took a great deal of effort on my part. With your help, I hope te 'win re-election in 1995, te continue witb the kind of personal service I have given te everyone in Durham East since 1990. Board Passes Recommendations Resulting in Outreach Prog ramn (Continued from page 1) these being addressed or in process; those net being addressed and those which the Board cannot address. Further administration is being requested te communicate with forum participants an up-date on these issues being addressed and aise te propose a timetabie wbea recommendatiens can be addressed. The administration are te give ressens te forum participants why some recemmendations cannot bc addressed by the Board. The Board has furnisbed participants with a full report of the forums and sessions held witb teachers, staff, students and general public. Sat, August 27th Main & Centre Streets, Orono 11:30 a.m. -2:00Op.m.. Corne Downtown and have an ear of corn onus Orono D.B. 1. A. wants to show their appreciation offering FREE CORN on a cob. Kinsmen wiII be selling hot dogs and pop for $1 .00 COME DOWNTOWN Just One Way of Saying THANKS