HEALTH REPORT - Lightning Safety

HEALTH REPORT - Lightning Safety
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Wednesday, July 21, 2004

This is Phoebe Zimmermann with the VOA Special English Health Report.

People who are hit by lightning and survive often have long-term effects. These may include memory loss, sleep disorders¹, muscle pain and depression.

 
Lightning striking the ground.
Experts tell people to seek the safety of a building or a hard-top vehicle any time they hear thunder, even if it is not raining. They say lightning can strike as far as sixteen kilometers from any rainfall. Lightning can travel sideways. And at least ten percent of lightning happens without any clouds overhead that you can see.

People who are outdoors should make sure they are not the tallest thing around. Bend low to the ground, but do not lie down. And do not stand near a tree or any tall object. Get away from water and anything made of metal. A car is safe, but do not touch any metal inside.

Safety experts say people in buildings should stay away from anything with wires or pipes that lead to the outside. The National Weather Service says if you plan to disconnect any electronic equipment, do so before the storm arrives. Do not use a wired telephone. Do not use water. All these can carry electricity.

Some people think a person struck by lighting² carries an electrical charge afterward³. Experts say this is false. It is safe to begin emergency treatment.

Each year about four-hundred people in the United States are struck by lightning. Last year forty-four people died. The average is close to seventy. The National Weather Service says that is more than are killed by severe storms.

Lightning is a release of energy in the sky. So what causes it? During a storm, the normally neutral particles in clouds hit each other. They become electrically charged. As they flow toward each other, they form an electric spark of light.

Some lightning is created within clouds. Some is created between clouds. And some is created when negative charges move down from the base of a cloud to meet positive charges rising from Earth.

Lightning strikes carry one or more electrical discharges called strokes. The bright light seen in a flash of lightning is called a return stroke. Return strokes travel at the speed of light. They discharge about one hundred million volts⁴ of electricity. They heat the air to more than thirty-three thousand degrees Celsius⁵. Air heated by return strokes expands and produces the sound of thunder.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Phoebe Zimmbermann.

1 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 volts   

n.（电压单位）伏特( volt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The floating potential, Vf is usually only a few volts below ground. 浮置电势Vf通常只低于接地电位几伏。 来自辞典例句
• If gamma particles are present, potential differences of several thousand volts can be generated. 如果存在γ粒子，可能产生几千伏的电位差。 来自辞典例句

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。