Above the river in Venezuela Catatumbo lightning shine 160 days a year (and not accompanied by thunder)

Catatumbo - a river which rises in the northeast of Colombia, Venezuela and flows into Lake Maracaibo. It flows through the territory of the two countries - Colombia and Venezuela, and although it is not the longest and deepest river in South America, but certainly one of the most amazing. In the mouth it is born a unique natural phenomenon - Catatumbo lightning.





160 days a year, 10 hours a day at an altitude of more than five kilometers in the sky erupt hundreds (about 280-minute per hour) electrical discharges, and lightning accompanied by thunder - it flashes back and forth just under the sound of the river. Storm cloud over the Catatumbo produces about 1176 thousand lightning strikes per year, the capacity of each of which is about 400,000 amperes. Because of this electrical discharges are seen at a distance of up to 400 km: navigators for a long time called this natural phenomenon "Lighthouse of Maracaibo" and used it for navigation. In addition, lightning katatumbiyskie once saved the locals from the English pirate Francis Drake, who in 1595, the year trying to sneak attack the city of Maracaibo, but his ships were seen as the river and the lake is well illuminated night discharges.





Today Catatumbo lightning is the largest generator of tropospheric ozone on Earth. Winds originating in the depths of the Andes, bring storms, which resulted in the air a large amount of ionized gas, such as methane. It is lighter than air, methane rises and feeds electrical discharges of lightning. Thus, there is a constant regeneration of the ozone layer, and in this regard, local environmentalists believe that the Catatumbo lightning should be taken under the protection of UNESCO, but this has not yet been implemented.



via factroom.ru