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Trees can explode when struck by lightning. [3] [15] [16] [17] The strong electric current is carried mostly by the water-conducting sapwood below the bark, heating it up and boiling the water. The pressure of the steam can make the trunk burst. [3] [17] This happens especially with trees whose trunks are already dying or rotting.
In July 1962, the US carried out the Starfish Prime test, exploding a 1.44 Mt (6.0 PJ) bomb 400 kilometres (250 mi; 1,300,000 ft) above the mid-Pacific Ocean.This demonstrated that the effects of a high-altitude nuclear explosion were much larger than had been previously calculated.
This pulverized rock can also produce "volcanic winter" effects, if sulfate-bearing rock is hit in the impact and lofted high into the air, [225] and "nuclear winter" effects, with the heat of the heavier rock ejecta igniting regional and possibly even global forest firestorms. [226] [227]
In general, heat bursts occur during the late spring and summer seasons. During these times, air-mass thunderstorms tend to generate due to daytime heating and lose their main energy during the evening hours. [4] Due to the potential temperature increase, heat bursts normally occur at night, though they have also been recorded during the daytime.
A thermobaric bomb is a type of explosive that utilizes oxygen from the surrounding air to generate an intense, high-temperature explosion, and in practice the blast wave typically produced by such a weapon is of a significantly longer duration than that produced by a conventional condensed explosive. The fuel-air bomb is one of the best-known ...
During an above ground nuclear explosion, there will be a blooming mushroom in the sky, but there will also be a vibration through the ground that spreads for a long distance. [2] In the 1980s, nuclear weapons testing was moved below ground. Even then, it is hard to detect, and especially tricky when the explosion has a small yield.
A typical specification for heavy civil defence shelter in Europe during the Cold war was an overhead explosion of a 500 kiloton weapon at the height of 500 meters. Such a weapon would be used to attack soft targets (factories, administrative centres, communications) in the area.
During the Attack of Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona was struck with an armor-piercing bomb which penetrated the upper deck and stopped inside the forward magazine. The bomb triggered an explosion which was powerful enough to cut the Arizona in half and is considered a sympathetic detonation as there was an apparent delay between the detonation of the bomb and the contents of the forward magazine.