\n<\/p>\n
February 24, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Ghostly UV sparks light up forests as thunderstorms pass overhead<\/p>\n Thunderstorms can generate weak electrical discharges on the plants underneath, but until now, they had never been observed in nature<\/p>\n By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner<\/span><\/p>\n For almost a century, scientists have wondered how thunderstorms might affect forests below them, with many believing that a storm could ignite weak electrical discharges on plants that would catch at the tips of their leaves and along their branches. These phenomena, known as coronas, had never been seen in nature\u2014until now.<\/p>\n A new study published earlier this month in Geophysical Research Letters reveals how the tips of tree leaves burn with ghostly ultraviolet sparks.<\/p>\n \u201cThese things actually happen; we\u2019ve seen them; we know they exist now,\u201d said Patrick McFarland, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University and lead author of the study, in a statement.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Before this study, scientists had observed in the lab how such electrical discharges might form.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the laboratory, if you turn off all the lights, close the door and block the windows, you can just barely see the coronae. They look like a blue glow,\u201d McFarland said.<\/p>\n Those observations suggested that the electrical charge of a thunderstorm overhead could induce an opposing charge on the ground below. Attracted to the thunderstorm\u2019s charge, the opposing charge would travel to the highest points it could reach. In the case of forests, this would be the tree canopy. The tips of leaves would then discharge the electricity, producing blue sparks, or coronas.<\/p>\n To observe the coronas in the wild, McFarland and his team fitted a Toyota Sienna with a mobile weather station, complete with ultraviolet camera. Then they went storm hunting, taking videos as they went. Analyzing the video footage revealed the coronas glowing on the tips of tree leaves and even hopping from leaf to leaf.<\/p>\n If humans could see in ultraviolet, McFarland said, it would likely look to observers like the entire tree canopy was aglow. \u201cIt\u2019d probably look like a pretty cool light show, as if thousands of UV-flashing fireflies descended on the treetops,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 24, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Ghostly UV sparks light up forests as thunderstorms pass overhead Thunderstorms can generate weak electrical discharges on the plants underneath, but until now, they had never been observed in nature By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner For almost a century, scientists have wondered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[998,23309,2725,23310,913,2809,10438],"class_list":{"0":"post-45153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-forests","9":"tag-ghostly","10":"tag-light","11":"tag-overhead","12":"tag-pass","13":"tag-sparks","14":"tag-thunderstorms"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n