The salad on your plate may owe its existence to a thunderstorm.

Many people are wary of lightning as a natural phenomenon. A hiker might worry about dark clouds on a day trip or a child might be afraid of hearing the loud rumble of a thunderstorm for the first time. However, many plants, from your garden to the forest, wait for lightning to grow to their fullest potential.

Lighting has historical associations that reflect current attitudes and scientific understanding of its impact on ecosystems. Perhaps the most famous depiction is of the Greek god, Zeus, who wielded lightning bolts as a symbol of power and authority. Ancient civilizations did not understand the mechanics of lightning, but associated it with the power of deities and recognized that lightning and rain brought fertile land.

Today, many people remain in awe of lightning as it continues to evoke fear as a destructive force that reminds us that nature is beyond our control. In our current scientific understanding, we know that lightning holds great power, but in a slightly different context.

To understand lightning's power, we need first to know how it forms. Lightning builds up and discharges static electricity, similar to when you rub a balloon on your hair. Electrons (negatively charged particles) are moved from your hair to the balloon, leaving the balloon negatively charged and your hair positively charged and causing your hair to stand up.

Similarly, lightning forms when ice and water particles collide in a thunder cloud. Electrons are separated and leave the bottom of the cloud negatively charged, while the top of the cloud is positively charged. The main difference arises from the release of the built-up energy.

With the balloon, if the charge is strong enough, you may feel a slight zap with the release of static electricity. In contrast, when energy builds up within a thundercloud, it is released through a lightning bolt from the cloud to the ground.

This release of energy not only balances the cloud's electrical charge but also breaks apart nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere. Approximately 78% of Earth's atmosphere is composed of nitrogen gas, a form unusable by plants. When a cloud releases a lightning bolt, the heat and energy split atmospheric nitrogen.

This allows it to combine with oxygen to form nitrogen compounds, which are carried down by rain. This process, called nitrogen fixation, turns nitrogen gas into compounds plants can use. On average, lightning fixes 3-10 teragrams of nitrogen per year over the Earth. That's like the weight of over half a million elephants.

By converting atmospheric nitrogen into plant nutrients, lightning plays a vital role in sustaining ecosystems and agricultural growth.

This conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form is vital for producers in a food web, plant growth, and ecosystem stability. The nitrogen cycle is the movement of nitrogen through the atmosphere, soil, and living organisms.

When plants absorb fixed nitrogen, it is transferred to animals that eat them. When these plants and animals die, decomposers such as fungi break them down and return the nitrogen to the soil.

Without lightning, plants would not have adequate nitrogen needed for growth, and plants and animals would not have enough food. In this way, lightning is a striking reminder of how interconnected Earth's processes are and the hidden ways that nature maintains balance.