Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Lightning Alert

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 10 2002 (IPS) - Around 100 people die each year in Brazil from lightning strikes, which also cause economic losses of 200 million dollars annually, reports the National Institute for Space Research. Brazilian territory receives an estimated 70 million electrically charged blows from the atmosphere each year, twice as many as recorded in the United States, whose territory is 10 percent larger. Lightning tends to be more common in tropical countries.

Institute experts say the lightning strikes cause most monetary damage when they hit electrical transmission and telephone lines. They are designing an early warning system to help prevent deaths and harm to infrastructure.