Atmospheric electricity: an underappreciated meteorological element governing biology and human well-being
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EDITORIAL
Atmospheric electricity: an underappreciated meteorological element governing biology and human well-being Ellard R. Hunting 1,2,3 Received: 8 November 2020 / Revised: 8 November 2020 / Accepted: 9 November 2020 # ISB 2020
Atmospheric electricity has been studied since the early 1700s. Fueled by an interest in lightning, scientists aimed to unravel whether thunderclouds contained electricity in both the laboratory (Wall 1708) and in the atmosphere (Franklin 1751; Dalibart 1752; de Romas 1753; Cavallo 1776). However, electrification of the air was also detected during fair weather conditions (Lemonnier 1752), sparking a wider interest and centuries of studies on the origin and spatiotemporal variability of atmospheric electricity (for a detailed historical overview, see Nicoll 2012). This culminated in the insight that atmospheric electrical phenomena are sustained by a global atmospheric electric circuit (GEC) that is primarily driven by thunderstorm and shower cloud activity (Wilson 1906, 1920). Only relatively recently, scientists began to consider atmospheric electricity as a meteorological parameter potentially capable of driving biological processes. Work in the early twentieth century focused, for instance, on how ions can affect human health (e.g., Krueger and Smith 1958), or how atmospheric electricity could potentially enhance plant growth (Lemström 1890; Lodge 1908) or affect virulence in flu epidemics (Huntington 1920). To date, such viewpoints remain largely untested and inconclusive, yet remain ever so topical with increasing population densities and increasing pressures on both the physical environment and climate. This special issue unites new research that links atmospheric electricity with biology and human well-being that collectively highlight the importance of a rejuvenated interest in this field.
* Ellard R. Hunting [email protected] 1
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
2
Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA
3
Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland
Studying complex links between atmospheric electricity and biological systems as well as their interactions requires an integration of various parameters. A multi- and transdisciplinary approach is therefore needed that considers concepts and methodologies from disparate scientific disciplines ranging from data science, meteorology, and atmospheric physics to biological and medical sciences. It is thus essential that knowledge can be shared between different disciplines. Accordingly, Fdez-Arroyabe et al. (2020) develop in this special issue a glossary of relevant terms and concepts to facilitate integration in common research and to provide a valuable resource for those seeking an understanding of atmospheric electricity and its links to biological systems. Likewise, to allow for further retrospective analysis of available data, a semantic approach is necessary. To thi
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