South Africa is the "lightning capital of the world"—and a laboratory for
scientists trying to understand the effects of lightning on the body. PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES O'REAR, CORBIS
In the self-proclaimed lightning capital of the world, Johannesburg, South African researchers are conducting experiments to understand how the human body reacts to a lightning strike. Their findings could help doctors learn how to treat victims more effectively and improve education about prevention.
South Africa has about 500 deaths and thousands of injuries
from lightning strikes each year. The country has a population of 50
million, while the U.S.—with 313 million people—has had only 23 deaths from lightning
so far this year. Johannesburg's subtropical climate means almost daily
rain showers during the summer that, combined with its high elevation,
makes the city particularly vulnerable to lightning.
Scientists
note that South Africa isn't alone in having a high rate of lightning
strikes. India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and other developing countries
also suffer from the same problem, compounded by tropical climates,
agriculture-based economies that keep people outdoors, poor
infrastructure that provides minimal protection, and lack of access to
education about safety. (See "Death by Lightning a Danger in Developing Countries.")
In response, the University of the Witwatersrand
in Johannesburg, better known as Wits University, has had a lightning
research team since the mid-1960s. But recently, the electrical
engineers, anthropologists, and biomedical experts there have been
really pushing the boundaries of what is known about lightning deaths
and injuries.
"South Africa has known about the risks of
lightning since 1973, when we introduced a 'risk analysis process' that
stated exactly how dangerous lightning could be," said Andrew Dickson,
an engineer with the lightning research group at Wits. "But we are still
somehow accepting around 500 deaths a year."
Hoping to
decrease that number, the Wits scientists are trying to show exactly
what happens to the human body when hit by lightning, something that has
not been well understood.
Lightning and the Body
"There
is little literature on how different tissues are affected when struck
by lightning," said Patrick Randolph-Quinney, a forensic anthropologist
with Wits University. "It has become a routine problem with the
discovery of bodies in places where a lightning strike was likely. We
haven't been able to say with certainty whether or not a lightning
strike was indeed the cause of death."
He added that his
team has found "conclusive evidence" that lightning causes a specific
pattern of cracking through the cellular structure of individual bone
cells, indicating the passage of extreme levels of energy.
The pattern is different from that created by other types of electricity going through the body, he noted.
Randolph-Quinney
hopes the emerging research will help forensics investigators pinpoint
cause of death from lightning. That's currently a challenge, he said,
because there are 17,000 unclaimed bodies in Johannesburg-area morgues
each year.
When it comes to lightning injuries, there
has also been little research on the mechanisms of what exactly happens
to the human body when struck, other than well-established complications
that can arise, such as memory loss, insomnia, and depression, said
Wits electrical engineering graduate student Harry Lee.
To
better understand these effects, and work out why some parts of the
body are damaged more than others, Lee is comparing the electrical
conductivity of 56 different human tissues.
Although the
research is still in the beginning stages, Lee says he eventually
expects to find dry skin to have a very low conductivity rate, which
would explain why a person struck by lightning rarely has external
burns.
Alternatively, he also expects to find
fluid-based tissues, such as cerebrospinal fluid, mucous membranes, and
the gallbladder, to have higher conductivity rates.
"This
work has potential to give scientists a way to look at the complex
human body in a very different way," Randolph-Quinney said. Eventually,
it may help doctors treat injuries from lightning.
Improving Education
Scientific
breakthroughs on lightning will be good news for South Africa, a
country that has largely lacked comprehensive storm education, said Ken
Nixon, an electrical engineer at Wits. "South Africa has lagged behind
because, for so long, we had a pretty well-run government, but it only
catered to a small portion of the population," he said.
The
group is also in the midst of putting together four or five definitive
lightning safety rules that will be disseminated to schools and the
media in the near future.
"We have had so much
[misinformation] in the past," said Estelle Trengove, an electrical
engineer at Wits. "People would go around saying things like, 'Oh, well,
if you are a boy, or you are wearing rubber-soled shoes, or if you are
already wet, you will be safe.'"
Trengove
added that many South Africans also believe that lightning is connected
to witchcraft. "I know a lot of educated people who believe there are
two kinds of lightning: natural and lightning sent from witches. It's
not just rural people," she said.
Trengove added, "We need a couple of hard-and-fast rules that everyone, rural and urban, can understand."
While
still in the brainstorming phase, some of the rules would be along the
lines of "never shelter under a tree" and "when a storm approaches,
shelter inside a sturdy building," she said.
"We don't
live in America," Nixon added. "[The popular rule] 'when thunder roars,
go indoors' isn't going to work because for many, indoors isn't a sturdy
building. So the way we approach these education tactics is going to be
fundamentally different."
Making a Game Out of It
To
help with education efforts, two Wits engineering students have created
a computer game aimed at elementary school students that teaches the
fundamentals of what to do when it storms.
The
multilevel, timed game includes lessons like figuring out what to do
with three friends who are outdoors and only have two spots in a car. In
the game, you can pass the level by putting two people in the car and
making the third crouch in an open area away from trees.
Earlier
this year, the game had a successful test run in a couple of primary
schools in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, according to creator
Anton Dreyer.
Some children were simply given an oral
presentation on lightning safety, and the others played the game. The
children who played the game had better scores when presented with a
test later.
"There hasn't been a proper curriculum
written for 10-year-olds on storm safety," Dreyer said. "And in this day
and age, I do believe educational games have their place."
Increased Awareness
The
researchers also note that recent big news stories about lightning
deaths have made South Africans more aware of the extent of the problem.
The BBC and Global Post both reported that nine schoolchildren were struck within 24 hours in February.
Five were high school cricket players, and four were girls walking in
the township of Soweto. All survived, but three were critically injured.
In late November, 14 manual laborers sleeping in a tent in a historically poor coal-mining town two hours east of Johannesburg were struck by lightning. Eight perished; six were injured.
"The
eight workers who were killed, their sleeping conditions were not
ideal, but they weren't on a mountain or an area we would consider to be
super high risk," Nixon said. "There was also no pattern as to who was
killed and who was just injured. There was a person who died lying right
next to someone who lived."
The deaths of the laborers
have caused the South African government to investigate the living
conditions of the workers. Some lightning experts say the increased
awareness of lightning safety is to thank for that.
"The
awareness is starting to come to a head. People here are really
starting to understand the risks associated with storms," Nixon said.
Ron Holle, a research meteorologist with Vaisala,
a Finnish company that makes lightning detection equipment, said about
Wits, "The quality of the science they are doing is on par with fully
developed parts of the world." But, he added, the team has its work cut
out for it.
"When you have an agriculture-based economy
and people who are spending a lot of time outside, lightning strikes
will always be an issue," he said.
Article by Mattie Quinn in Johannesburg for National Geographic
Note: Southern Cape inhabitants take note of the above article and YES we do get lightning in many parts of the Southern Cape and Garden Route Area. I use the slogan "When thunder roars go indoors!" whenever I observe lightning or hear thunder. Various articles on lightning were published on the SAWDIS and SAWDOS Blogs. A must read if you live in South Africa or for that matter any place in the world where lightning occurs.
