Every second of every day, all over the world, there are more than 100 lightning bolts. That's about ten million lightning bolts in one day Lightning amazes us, but it can also frighten us. We have good reason to be afraid of lightning Every year, about 100 people In the United states and Canada die from lightning, and another 300 are injured. It is strange that of all the people who die from lightning, 84 percent are men. Lightning is the main cause of forest fires: it starts more than 9,000 fires each year. Lightning is electricity Inside a cloud. Scientists do not know exactly what makes this electricity, But they know that the electricity inside a cloud can be as much as 100 million volts From this extremely strong electricity, a lightning balt, like a streak of bright light, comes down from the sky. Its temperature can reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit thin a few millionths of a second. That's almost five times the emperature on the stan's surface. The lightning bolt is very quick. lt con move at a speed of 87000 miles per second. A rocket troveling at this speed would reach the moon In 2 S seconds With the lightning bolt, we usually hear thunder which is the sound of hot air exploding Lightning and thunder hoppen ot exactly the same time, but we see lightning first because light travels a million times foster than sound. Lightning often strikes tall buildings. However, many buildings have lightning rods to protect them from lightning. When llghtning strikes, the electricity goes safely down the metal rod to the ground. Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman, invented tre lightning rod In 1760. That is why buildings like the Empire State Building in New York City are safe. Lightning may hit this building as many as twelve times in twenty minutes and as often as 500 times a year. Airplanes are not as easy to protect as buildings, and accidents do happen. In 1963 a Boeing 707 jet was hit by lightning and crashed. Eighty-one people died.