Almost 300 days out of every year, there are thunderstorms over Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo. Called Catatumbo lightning — “Catatumbo means ‘House of Thunder’ in the language of the local Barí people” — the phenomenon is caused by the unique confluence of warm air and water from the Caribbean Sea with the cold air flowing down from the Andes, which nearly surround the lake. The result is near-nightly storms with the world’s highest density of lightning and up to 200 flashes in a minute. It sounds, literally, awe-some.
The short video above is a profile of photographer Jonas Piontek, who has captured some amazing photos and video of the Catatumbo lightning. The NY Times featured some of his photos in this piece about the lightning.
Less than half an hour after the first cloud forms, it starts to flash. It does this faster and faster - 200 flashes a minute is not uncommon. After that, the cloud becomes a giant bulb that lights up the night.
“You can read a newspaper in the middle of the night because it’s so bright,” said Jonas Pointek, a photographer who has documented the storms.
Moisés Naím has an article that explains what’s behind the protests.
This is the half of the country whose sons and daughters have taken to the streets to protest against a repressive regime that treats them as mortal enemies. And maybe they are. After all, they represent the vanguard of a society no longer willing to tolerate an abusive government with disastrous results to show for its 15-year grip on power: Venezuela is now the world champion of inflation, homicide, insecurity, and shortages of essential goods-from milk for children to insulin for diabetics and all kinds of indispensable products. All this despite having the greatest oil reserves in the world and a government with absolute control of all state institutions and levers of power. Sadly, that government has used its immense wealth and authority to push through unsustainable populist policies, buy votes, jail opposition leaders, and shut down television channels. Daily shortages of basic goods, fear of crime, and hopelessness have become unbearable.
It’s still unknown exactly why this area — and this area alone — should produce such regular lightning. One theory holds that ionized methane gas rising from the Catatumbo bogs is meeting with storm clouds coming down from the Andes, helping to create the perfect conditions for a lightning storm.
With a total of roughly 1.2 million lightning discharges per year, the Relampago del Catatumbo is thought to be the world’s greatest producer of ozone. As the lightning rips through the air, it produces nitrogen oxide, which is later converted by sunlight into ozone, which ends up in a protective layer high above the planet.
I learned about this storm from the description of a course that Geoff Manaugh is teaching at Columbia about…what would you call it…geoarchitecture?
The studio will be divided into three groups — one designing glaciers, one designing islands, one designing storms. Each group will mix vernacular, non-fossil fuel-based building technologies with what sounds like science fiction in order to explore the fine line between architectural design and the amplified cultivation of natural processes.
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