Detection of electrostatic discharges on Saturn and Uranus by Voyager 2, along with radio signals associated with lightning picked up by the Pioneer Venus orbiter and Russian Venera probe, may indicate that lightning is commonplace in our solar system. During a power blackout from a lightning strike, it's hard to remember that some good does come from the powerful bursts of electrical energy. When lightning bolts discharge, they ionize the air and produce nitrogen oxide. According to recent studies, this process could generate more than 50 percent of the usable nitrogen in the atmosphere and soil. Nitrogen is an essential plant fertilizer.
Lightning also plays a critical role in the natural cycle of forests by helping generate new growth.
Areas that are burned by lightning-triggered fires are cleared of dead trees so that seedlings have the space and soil to take root. The global array of thunderstorms serves as a worldwide circuit of electrical generators. Through the activity of the lightning they produce, these generators continually maintain and renew the atmosphere's positive electrical charge. Though With so many bolts of lightning, it's no wonder that people and structures get hit. Each year about 100 people are killed and about 245 injured in the United States by nature's number one weather-related killer.