Is it dangerous to call and send text messages outdoors in thunderstorm weather?

Yes If you are outside, you'd better not call or send text messages. If you are in a minefield, you are easily struck by lightning.

What exactly is lightning? Simply put, when it thunders, the clouds in the sky are equivalent to the upper reaches of a river, the ground is equivalent to the lower reaches of the river, and the accumulated charge on the clouds is equivalent to a flood. There is a dam tens of kilometers thick between the upstream and downstream-air. The charge on the clouds is blocked by thick nonconductive air and cannot be released to the ground. However, as the water level at one end of the dam is getting higher and higher, more and more charges are accumulated on the clouds. At some point, the terrible thing about the lightning killer of the dam is that it is uncertain. It always chooses the shortest "shortcut" that hinders it in the air. The path of the conductive path is often unpredictable. I don't know where the branches of this dazzling tree extend in the sky. But many times, it will give priority to the cutting-edge objects on the ground, and these "early birds" bear the brunt. The lightning rod takes advantage of this temper of lightning.

The electronic components in the mobile phone are very small. The circuit in the mobile phone is driven by a battery. The battery receives weak radio waves and then generates relatively small current in the circuit to work. The intensity of radio waves used by mobile phones is only several hundred thousand times that of lightning electric field. In the face of lightning, the mobile phone is equivalent to an ant in front of an elephant at most, and will not change the mind of lightning. In addition, holding a mobile phone several centimeters long in hand will not increase the user's height, but will attract lightning like a lightning rod, increasing the risk of being struck by lightning.

Some people think that mobile phones will also actively "lure" lightning, because electromagnetic waves used by mobile phones will ionize the air, increase the conductivity of the air, and attract lightning to choose to pass through the surrounding air. This will not happen either, because the radio wave energy of the mobile phone mentioned just now is too low, and the electromagnetic wave band used by the mobile phone itself does not have the ability to affect the air conductivity. Generally speaking, the higher the frequency of electromagnetic waves, the stronger the ionization. High-frequency cosmic rays have a strong ionization effect on air, and solar ultraviolet rays can also ionize air to produce ozone. Visible light with a frequency slightly lower than ultraviolet light can't do this, otherwise there will be a news mobile phone with a "flashlight to attract thunder" with a lower frequency. In terms of ionizing air, it is only a soy sauce manufacturer.

To prove whether there is a relationship between using a mobile phone and being struck by lightning, we should not only explore the physical principles behind it, but also let the numbers speak for themselves, and enough statistical data can be convincing. If we want to look at this problem comprehensively, we should consider four numbers like tongue twisters:

1. How many people used their mobile phones when it thundered and were struck by lightning?

2. How many people didn't use their mobile phones when it thundered, but were struck by lightning?

3. How many people used their mobile phones when it thundered, but they were not struck by lightning?

4. How many people didn't use their mobile phones when it thundered and were not struck by lightning?

Many people think that "mobile phone thunder" often only pays attention to the first number, but ignores the last three numbers. Simple examples of several victims being struck by lightning while using their mobile phones, no matter how vividly described, can not completely prove that there is a rope between using mobile phones and being struck by lightning. These examples not only show that mobile phones can attract the limelight, but also prove the popularity of modern mobile phones.

In the United States, in the face of constant media reports that "mobile phones are in close contact with lightning", experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States publicly stated in 2006 that neither mobile phones nor small metal objects attract lightning, and people are struck by lightning while talking on their mobile phones only because they are standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

However, for the brother of wired phone, answering the phone when it thunders does increase the risk of being struck by lightning. Lightning accidents caused by wired telephones are recorded in detail in all countries. The reason is that the telephone line connects outdoor and indoor, and outdoor objects are more likely to be hit than indoor ones. If telecommunication equipment or objects around it are struck by lightning, telephone lines will set the caller on fire. In 2005, a villager in Yanqing, Beijing, suddenly made a loud noise while making a phone call. With a scream, the villager fell to the ground and the lights at home went out at the same time. Later, relatives and friends took him to the hospital and died. Afterwards, he was identified as a lightning strike.

In this way, in thunderstorm weather, using mobile phone instead of fixed telephone is an excellent safety choice.