What Would Happen If Every Lightning Bolt on Earth Struck the Same Place All at Once

As part of their ongoingWhat If?"series,Randall MunroeofxkcdandHenry ReichofMinutePhysics explain what would happen if every lightning bolt in the world struck the same place at the very same time and how big it would be.

The main channel of a lightning bolt-the part that's carrying current-isabout a centimeter or two in diameter. Ourbundle contains about a million separate bolts, which means it will be about six meters in diameter, hitting a region of the ground thesize of the center circle in a basketball court.

They also address the damage it would do, and how much power could it generate.

The lightning bolt would deliver about twoatomic bombs worth of energy to the air andground. From a more practical standpoint, thisis enough electricity to power a game console and TV for several million years. Or, to put it another way, it could support the US'selectricity consumption... for five minutes.