WEBVTT - Less people are killed by lightning every year

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is Christian Seger. Across the United States, lightning has

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<v Speaker 1>killed fifteen people so far in seventeen. That's according to

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<v Speaker 1>National Weather Service data. While those deaths are tragic, that's

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<v Speaker 1>fewer than half the thirty eight lightning deaths that the

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<v Speaker 1>nation had in sixteen, And we're on track to have

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<v Speaker 1>the lowest number of recorded lightning fatalities since nineteen forty

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<v Speaker 1>because that's the earliest year for which the federal government

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<v Speaker 1>has data. The government actually maintains a year by year

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<v Speaker 1>breakdown of deaths from lightning and other weather threats during

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<v Speaker 1>that period. But if you look at those historical numbers,

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<v Speaker 1>what's most startling is the long term decrease in lightening

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<v Speaker 1>deaths over that period. In nineteen forty three, the most

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<v Speaker 1>lethal year on record, four hundred and thirty two people

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<v Speaker 1>were killed by lightning, and throughout the nineteen forties, and

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<v Speaker 1>average of three hundred and twenty nine point three people

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<v Speaker 1>died each year. But in the nineteen fifties and the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixties the rates started dropping dramatically and steadily kept decreasing,

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<v Speaker 1>to the point where over the two thousand tens the

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<v Speaker 1>average annual fatality rate is about a tenth of what

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<v Speaker 1>it was during the nineteen forties. So why are so

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<v Speaker 1>many fewer people being killed by lightning these days than

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<v Speaker 1>in the past. Well, one major reason is urbanization. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty, according to the US Census Bureau, forty three

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<v Speaker 1>point five per cent of the nation's population lived in

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<v Speaker 1>rural areas. By two thousand and ten, that number was

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<v Speaker 1>down to nineteen point three percent, with more than eighty

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<v Speaker 1>percent of the population living in cities. And today, according

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<v Speaker 1>to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the average Americans spends

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<v Speaker 1>nine of their time indoors, which generally is the safest

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<v Speaker 1>place to be during a lightning storm, but that does

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<v Speaker 1>mean that you can't be injured or killed by lightning

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<v Speaker 1>inside a house. And seven decades ago, not only where

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<v Speaker 1>there are more people in rural areas, but they also

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<v Speaker 1>spent more of their time working outdoors, where they were

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<v Speaker 1>more vulnerable to lightning, as Ronald Holla, and meteorologist who

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<v Speaker 1>studies lightning deaths, explained in the Atlantic and farmers in

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen forties still used teams of horses to pull

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<v Speaker 1>their plows, and it took them all day to finish

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<v Speaker 1>tilling a twenty acre field. Modern farmers, in contrast, are

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to be sitting inside a fully enclosed tractor

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<v Speaker 1>with a metal housing that offers lightning protection. When people

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<v Speaker 1>are killed by lightning these days, it often happens when

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<v Speaker 1>they're enjoying some outdoor leisure activity. That's according to a

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen analysis of lightning deaths over the past decade by

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<v Speaker 1>John S. Jen Senius Jr. He's a eightning safety specialist

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<v Speaker 1>with National Weather Service. Jen Senius found that of the

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<v Speaker 1>three d and fifty two deaths over the past decade,

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<v Speaker 1>thirty three people died while fishing, while twenty were on

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<v Speaker 1>the beach, eighteen were camping, in sixteen were boating. When

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<v Speaker 1>it came to sports, soccer players accounted for twelve deaths,

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<v Speaker 1>while golfers accounted for nine, a piece of information that

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<v Speaker 1>shows a golf course isn't necessarily the most dangerous place

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<v Speaker 1>during a storm. Farming and ranching, in contrast, accounted for

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<v Speaker 1>just seventeen of the recent lightning depths. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Patrick J. Kaiger, produced by Tristan McNeil, and

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and other topics, please visit us

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<v Speaker 1>at how stuff works dot com,