Current Global Estimates of Lightning Fatalities and Injuries

Abstract

The actual number of worldwide annual deaths and injuries is unknown. The documented number of lightning fatalities around the world currently exceeds 4000 per year and is compiled from national datasets in articles that have been published formally or informally for multiple-year periods ending in 1979 or later. This number is known to be too small, since data are missing in many countries that are expected to have significant vulnerability to lightning in many aspects of society together with a large frequency of lightning flashes. One of the primary goals of this book is to identify how to collect national information from the numerous nations that currently lack data on lightning fatalities and nonfatal injuries in order to update these incomplete estimates.