Electricity in the air - the experience
Winds of depression
In certain regions of the world, the
seasonal winds that blow have become legendary, bringing little short
of misery
and chaos to many of the local inhabitants. In these places it has been
known for generations that the winds bring feelings of anxiety, stress,
depression and sleepless nights. In fact winds like these are
surprisingly common across the world:
The Foehn is a dry southerly wind which blows from the Alps across
Switzerland and southern Germany. The Sirocco blows in Italy and the
Mistral in southern France. (It is said that Winston Churchill avoided
visiting the Mediterranean coast when the Mistral was blowing). The
Middle East has Sharav - also known to the Arabs as Hamsin (the fifty
days wind).
Western Canada and USA have the Chinook - and in the area around
California blow the Santa-Ana and winds known in Indian mythology as
"The Bitter Winds".
More recent statistical studies reveal that when these winds
appear, road accidents happen more frequently and suicide
rates increase. The problem was considered serious enough for judges to
make
allowances when sentencing. And hospitals would postpone some
operations until the winds calmed!
The Swiss Meteorological Institute made extensive studies into the
problems arising from their local wind, the Foehn and in 1974 published
a list of physical and mental effects it was found to cause. The list
was extensive and included:
Places of calm and tranquillity.
But while these winds caused such distress, there were certain locations where the effect was totally opposite.
What about the renowned health resorts of the mountains and lakesides, reputed for their special qualities of relaxation and healing? Places to which patients would travel great distances to stay and convalesce after illness.
One well known resort is the Swiss town
of Davos. The air in this high valley was deemed excellent by doctors
and highly recommended for patients with lung diseases.
The big question was - Why is the air of these resorts so
very
different
to the air blown by the notorious winds?
This was research that many scientists and international organisations became involved in!
In fact the air of Davos became the focus of much of this research. And it was soon discovered that the air's unique quality was due to its electrical properties.
When air is charged electrically positive it feels oppressive and uncomfortable - but when negatively charged it becomes relaxing, re-vitalising and very healthy for us to breathe.
The next question asked was: How does air actually
get this
electrical charge.
We understand it today as ionization. The individual gases that form
air are ionized into positive ions and negative ions.
The formation of ions is covered more fully in another section. But broadly speaking, Nature make ions in a variety of ways, wherever energy is imparted into the air, including:
- Friction due to air movement - winds and turbulence in the atmosphere.
- The breaking of water droplets - in waterfalls, surf and rain.
- Ultra violet rays in sunlight.
- Natural radioactivity in rocks.
- Electrical discharge (or lightning).
Whether the process results in air becoming positively or negatively ionized, depends upon various physical conditions at the particular location the ionization takes place.