Comment by mlhpdx

9 hours ago

Having lived in the PNW all my life, and worked closely with our friend Doug (the fir trees), this article brings up old mental images of otherwise healthy needles with browned (dead) tips in the crowns.

Coincidence? Probably.

Very cool phenomenon to catch visually.

3 comments

mlhpdx

Reply
t-3  8 hours ago

Maybe not a coincidence! The previous research linked in the article mentions this in lab testing:

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JD03...

  > Visually, the corona discharges generated on the leaves were either small purple-blue point discharges or elongated purple-blue discharges, and usually formed on the tips of the leaf closest to the source of the electric field (Figure 1). Sometimes the corona discharges were steady and constant, but other times they would dim and brighten in an unsteady pulse. When the corona was turned off, the tips of the leaf where the discharges occurred were often burned and browned, even for the weakest electric fields applied to the leaves.

colanderman  9 hours ago

[flagged]

  • arrowleaf  8 hours ago

    Human eyes can be sensitive down to 380nm, the UV range goes up to 400nm. Birds and insects can see this. We can see this, using UV filters such as shown in the article. I get that it's fun to be a pedant sometimes, but come on.