Overview
- Ecologists Ariel Novoplansky and Hezi Yizhaq argue the 2022 Dolomites spike in spruce tree electrical activity coincided with a local thunderstorm.
- Lightning data show about 20 strikes within roughly 45 kilometers of the site between October 22–25, with 18 occurring in the 14 hours before the eclipse.
- The critique notes the partial eclipse dimmed sunlight by only about 10.5% for two hours, a smaller change than typical cloud-driven fluctuations at the location.
- Proposed mechanisms such as gravitational cues and inter-tree ‘memory’ or communication are deemed implausible, and the original sample of three trees and five stumps is flagged as insufficient.
- Authors call for replication across sites, species, and multiple eclipses with explicit controls for weather, temperature shifts, rain, and lightning to test any anticipatory claims.