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1.

Preface
2. The Electric Universe
3. A Little History
4. What Big Bang?
5. Electric Galaxies
6. Electric Stars
7. Planets
8. Electrical Cratering
9. Electrical Weather
10. Life Itself
11. Some Basics
12. So What?

9. ELECTRICAL WEATHER 

Most people are unaware that we have no understanding of how lightning
is created in clouds. The simplest answer is that lightning is not
generated there at all. Clouds merely form a convenient path to Earth
for electricity originating in space. Without clouds it is possible to
have a "bolt from the blue". That is happening on Venus (although the
sky certainly isn't blue). Weather systems are driven primarily by
external electrical influences.

Consequently the Sun has weather patterns. And the most distant
planet, Neptune, has the most violent winds in the solar system though
it receives very little energy from the Sun. Electric discharges from
space cause Mars' huge dust devils and planet-wide dust storms. They
are responsible for Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the "spokes" in
Saturn's rings. It is why Venus has lightning in its smog-like clouds
and its mountain-tops glow with St. Elmo's fire. It is why the Earth
has lightning stretching into space in the form of "red sprites" and
"blue jets", and why tethered satellites "blow a fuse".

However, nobody is trained to consider electrical energy input to
weather systems. 

The image on the right is NASA artist's view of lightning on Venus
during the descent of one of the Pioneer probes. Venus has smog-like
clouds that are not expected to generate lightning and yet the planet
suffers intense lightning. This argues against the popular notion of
what causes lightning.

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©Wal Thornhill 2000