Thunderstorm, not eclipse, drove tree signal spike in Dolomites

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 08, 2026

Around 14 hours before a partial solar eclipse crossed the Dolomites in northern Italy, a cluster of spruce trees showed a sharp, synchronized rise in electrical activity. A new opinion paper argues that this spike did not reflect any anticipatory response to the eclipse but was instead triggered by a local thunderstorm and nearby lightning.

In a widely publicized study, Chiolerio and coll