By Elizabeth Prata
I love a nice rain, don’t you? We haven’t had rain here for a long time. We are in a drought of varying levels up and down the state. Ours is ‘Extreme drought”. I miss a nice, gentle rainy day, with rumbles of thunder far off and some lightning.
The air smells (people tell me) so fresh and vibrant after a rainy thunderstorm. I never thought about why. Then this week Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis wrote the following. There is a scientific reason. The air actually DOES smell different after a storm!
By Ken Ham @aigkenham
Trees glow during thunderstorms. A recent study of tree leaves has revealed what scientists have long suspected but have never been able to observe: The tips of tree leaves shimmer as a thunderstorm passes overhead. This “glow” is called the corona and is caused by a weak electrical discharge. It’s invisible to the naked eye, but technology has allowed researchers to observe and document the phenomena. And this glow is actually really important. As the corona is discharged, it releases hydroxyl radicals, which clean the air, removing pollutants. It’s such a powerful cleaning force that it’s known as “nature’s detergent.”
This whole process is just another example of how our Creator God has lovingly provided for the needs of His creation. God’s creation is truly amazing, and every discovery of the things He’s made brings glory to Him. “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, as well as its fullness; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before Yahweh, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness” (Psalm 96:11–13).
From the magazine Science Daily: Scientists just captured trees glowing with electricity during storms
Scientists chasing thunderstorms in a retrofitted minivan finally captured something never seen before in nature: faint electrical glows shimmering from treetops during a storm. These “corona discharges,” long suspected but never observed outside a lab, appeared as tiny UV flashes at the tips of leaves. The discovery could reshape how we understand forests, since these bursts may help clean the air by breaking down pollutants.
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the waters He called “seas”; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (Genesis 1:9-13)
God did all that in one day! He is an amazing, powerful creative, holy God! He made this for US, so we could live on a beautiful planet. So many places are still so stunningly beautiful even with the Fall of man polluting and corrupting it. Imagine what heaven will be like! God’s dwelling place with no sin to stain it. Imagine what He has in store for us in eternity to do for Him! It will not be boring, that is for sure. It will be beautiful, good, and true.
