Andrew Farrell was haunted by the terrifying prospect that one day lightning would strike the historic windmill. A lightning strike five times hotter than the surface temperature of the sun would instantly turn the moisture in one of the turbine’s wood pieces to steam, causing the turbine to explode. What would happen if a raging fire then engulfed the 160-year-old building? Perhaps most worryingly, Farrell was haunted by the thought that climate change might make this nightmare more likely with each passing year.
So Farrell of the Broads Authority, a public organization in the UK, decided to install a lightning protection system at Mutton’s Mill, a 19th-century windmill that sits on the flat, wide marshland in eastern England known as the Norfolk Broads.
“These wheels are perfect conductors, pointing up into the sky,” says Farrell. Inside Mutton’s Mill is a rare water wheel that was once used to drain the area’s marshes for agricultural purposes. The wheel itself is a protected historic landmark, standing 75 feet tall, including the sails. Thousands of dollars have been spent on restoration in recent years.
Now, with hooked rods attached to the ends of the turbine’s four sails, ready to capture and harmlessly transmit the thunderstorms to rods buried in nearby marshes, Farrell is confident this will save the historic structure – although, he adds, “if lightning struck, it would probably frighten the owls up there.”
According to the Royal Meteorological Society, for every degree of atmospheric warming, the amount of moisture the air can hold increases by about 7 percent. The society adds that warmer, more humid air increases the risk of thunderstorms, and therefore the risk of lightning strikes. From his experience, Farrell says he has already noticed increased thunderstorm activity in Norfolk. Scientists are still uncertain about how much the frequency of lightning events will increase around the world. But organizations are already taking the threat seriously and have quietly begun working to protect buildings and critical infrastructure from future lightning strikes.
Among the organisations currently considering the risks, according to information found in online documents, is Scottish Water, which believes there could be an increased chance of lightning strikes on biogas facilities, which could harm workers and members of the public. Meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organisation is considering the possibility that more frequent lightning strikes could disrupt flight schedules, damage aircraft and disable radar towers. UK’s Network Rail also discussed threats to railway signalling and electrical equipment in a presentation document.
And National Grid Electricity Transmission, which manages the high-voltage electricity grid in England and Wales, said in a 2021 report that it has already collected “evidence of increased lightning strikes around our assets in some areas.” The report added that while its systems are largely resilient at the moment, “we need to consider the impact of increased lightning strikes in the future.”
The Pentagon is also concerned about lightning, said Caroline Baxter, a senior adviser at the Strategic Risk Council. “There’s not enough recognition of the risks that military installations face as a result of climate change, risks to lightning and the like,” she said, noting that some of the biggest military bases are located in states particularly prone to lightning, such as Louisiana and Georgia.
