Global atmospheric electrical circuit Global atmospheric electrical circuit The global atmospheric electrical circuit is the course of continuous movement of atmospheric electricity between the ionosphere and the Earth. Through solar radiation, thunderstorms, and the fair-weather condition, the atmosphere is subject to a continual and substantial electrical current. Principally, thunderstorms throughout the world carry "negative" charges to the earth, which is then discharged gradually through the air in fair weather. This atmospheric circuit is central to the study of atmospheric physics and meteorology. It is used in the prediction of thunderstorms, and was central to the understanding of electricity. In the past it has been
Snowball Earth beginning of a snowball Earth, such as the eruption of a supervolcano, a reduction in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases such as methane and/or carbon dioxide, changes in Solar energy output, or perturbations of Earth's orbit. Regardless of the trigger, initial cooling results in an increase in the area of Earth's surface covered by ice and snow, and the additional ice and snow reflects more Solar energy back to space, further cooling Earth and further increasing the area of Earth's surface covered by ice and snow. This positive feedback loop could eventually produce a frozen equator as cold as