The Earth's Surface-Atmospheric Current

The earth's background, or fair weather, current is dipicted in the diagram above. This very weak current carries excess postive charge from the electrosphere to the surface. If there were no charging mechanism to replenish the lost positive charge from the electrosphere, the current would vanish. In addition to cooling the warm earth surface by transfering heat to the atmosphere, thunderstorm lighting works to replace the positive charge in the electrosphere.