<|im_start|>system
You are a helpful AI assistant.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
How, and why, are lightning strikes happening? Explain in simple terms.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Lightning strikes happen because of the buildup of electrical charges in the atmosphere. Thunderstorms form when warm, moist air rises and cools, forming clouds. As the cloud grows taller, its bottom becomes negatively charged while its top becomes positively charged. This creates a separation of electrical charges within the cloud, and between the cloud and the ground.

As the separation of charges becomes more pronounced, a spark can occur between the negatively charged bottom of the cloud and the positively charged ground. This spark is a lightning strike. The lightning strike carries an electric current from the cloud to the ground and releases a large amount of energy in the form of light and heat.

Why does this separation of charges happen? It is due to the movement of charged particles within the cloud. The particles collide with each other, causing some to become positively charged and others to become negatively charged. This separation of charges within the cloud leads to the buildup of electrical potential that can eventually result in a lightning strike.

In simple terms, lightning strikes are the result of a buildup of electrical charges in the atmosphere that is released as a spark of light and heat in the form of a lightning strike.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
that's seems reasonable, but I'd like more details, could you answer as if you were a weather physicist?<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Water droplets in the bottom part of the cloud are caught in the updrafts and lifted to great heights where the much colder atmosphere freezes them. Meanwhile, downdrafts in the cloud push ice and hail down from the top of the cloud. Where the ice going down meets the water coming up, electrons are stripped off. This typically causes the bottom of the cloud to be negatively charged and the top of the cloud to be positively charged.

Opposite charges attract one another. The opposite charges within the cloud do not immediately flow to meet one another because the atmosphere acts as an insulator, but if the charges build up enough they are able to overcome that barrier. This can cause lightning strikes between positively and negatively charged regions of the clouds or between the bottom of the cloud and the ground.

Would you like an even more detailed explanation? This is still mildly oversimplified for the sake of brevity.<|im_end|>