When lightning strikes a paddock, it does more than scorch grass and scare the cows. The electrical discharge breaks apart nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere, converting them into a form that falls to Earth in rain and becomes available to plants. It is a natural process, primordial and efficient, which has been fixing nitrogen into soils long before humans began to farm them.
From the air to the field: How nitrogen fertilizer helps feed the world—and why supply chains matter
