[Arrangement: High-energy piano/organ rock with a crackling electric-guitar riff. Start with distant thunder and sparse piano, then explode into pounding drums and guitar on the refrain. The chorus should feel like a lightning strike.]
[Intro]
Did you hear that?
(Zap!)
Did you see that?
(Flash!)
Whoa…
(Wake from your nap)
(It’s time to dash!
It’s shocking!
[Verse 1]
It’s happening in the atmosphere
You can feel it in the air
Heat is building
Moisture rising
Energy is everywhere
[Refrain]
I’m talking…
(Shocking!)
There’s no denying…
(It’s electrifying)
…and terrifying
[Verse 2]
On September one
The storm was far from done
Thousands of strikes
Lit up the night sky
(Yikes!)
Feel the sky cry
[Refrain]
I’m talking…
(Shocking!)
There’s no denying…
(It’s electrifying)
…and terrifying
[Bridge]
Science has a warning
Written in the storm:
For every degree of warming
The lightning risks transform
[Instrumental]
[Electric guitar imitates lightning]
Zap!
(Zap!)
Flash!
(Flash!)
Boom!
(Boom!)
Again!
Zap!
(Zap!)
Flash!
(Flash!)
Boom!
[Breakdown]
[Music drops to bass, heartbeat-like kick, and distant thunder]
I’m talking…
(Shocking!)
There’s no denying…
(It’s electrifying)
…mystifying
[Full band]
WATCH THE SKY!
(CRY!)
[Refrain]
I’m talking…
(Shocking!)
There’s no denying…
(It’s electrifying)
…and terrifying
[Outro]
[Thunder rolls]
Where there’s heat…
(There’s energy.)
It comes to be…
(Oh, you’ll see)
[Lightning crack]
ZAP!
About the Song: How Is the Climate Energy Hitting You?
Chester County, It’s Shocking
How is a warmer and increasingly moisture-loaded atmosphere changing the conditions under which severe thunderstorms develop?
Over the past decade, the number of lightning strikes in Chester County, PA, has increased dramatically, rising from approximately 18,200 in 2016 to more than 30,500 in 2026.
During the peak of the September 1 storm, Chester County was bombarded by thousands of lightning strikes. The broader storm line was averaging more than 400 lightning strikes every 15 minutes as it moved through the region.
Peer-reviewed atmospheric research published in Science has projected that cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the contiguous United States could increase by approximately 12% for every 1°C of global warming.
Lightning strikes in Chester County during September 1–2, when two extreme storm systems passed through the region, are estimated at 4,361 strikes. In 2016, there were approximately 18,200 strikes. Assuming there are no additional storms for the remainder of 2026, the estimated total would reach 34,861 strikes—representing approximately a 91.5% increase over the 2016 total, or nearly double the number of strikes recorded ten years earlier.
Chester County, It’s Shocking: Lightning Strikes Are Surging
From the album “Fluidization“