>>Evolution is the generally-accepted explanation for how life on Earth became so complex, but there’s one thing it can’t explain – how life emerged from non-living matter in the first place. The prevailing hypothesis is that life got started in the ocean, where hydrothermal vents provided just the right chemical reactions. But a new MIT study has found that ancient oceans probably didn’t have enough nitrogen – but shallow ponds might have.

Nitrogen is often credited as a key part of the transition from non-life to life. The story goes that when nitrogenous oxides and primitive RNA mixed, the RNA was chemically induced to start forming the first amino acids, which then developed into the first simple organisms. These nitrogenous oxides are thought to have rained down on the surface after lightning strikes split the bonds of nitrogen in the atmosphere.

But according to the new study, nitrogenous oxides likely wouldn’t have lasted long enough to reach the deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and ultimately kickstart life. The team found two previously-overlooked factors that break down nitrogenous oxides in water: ultraviolet light from the Sun, and dissolved iron from rocks.<<

https://newatlas.com/life-earth-shallow-ponds/59292/

Interesting.

Given that there are around 1,400,000,000 lightning strikes every year with surface ground voltages spreading over hundreds of meters and strikes causing fulgurites and other chemical interactions it almost seems inevitable for more organic complexity to take shape.

Electrical properties of lightning

Lightning contains around 5 billion joules over 10 microseconds is equal to5×1014 (or 500 trillion) watts. Because lightning bolts vary in voltage and current, a more average calculation would be1×1010 (or 10 billion) watts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvesting_lightning_energy

A lightning bolt is anywhere from 1,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 volts and between 10,000 and 200,000 amps. Or about 215 kWh (kilowatt hours).
http://www.weatherimagery.com/blog/lightning-facts/

Positive lightning strikes tend to be much more intense than their negative counterparts. An average bolt of negative lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amperes (30 kA), and transfers 15 coulombs of electric charge and 500 megajoules of energy. Large bolts of negative lightning can carry up to 120 kA and 350 coulombs. The average positive ground flash has roughly double the peak current of a typical negative flash, and can produce peak currents up to 400,000 amperes (400 kA) and charges of several hundred coulombs. Furthermore, positive ground flashes with high peak currents are commonly followed by long continuing currents, a correlation not seen in negative ground flashes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning