To be precise Telluric Currents, also known as Atmospheric Aether energy is what Tesla was working on. I always think of this theory when Global Warming is up for discussion.

6 Outline of a general telluric flow pattern Let us suppose, as a starting point, that this obstacle cannot be crossed. The Earth is then seen as a combination of three circuits, coupled magnetically in the same way as the windings of a short-circuited transformer. The outermost is an active circuit comprising the combination of ionospheric and magnetospheric sources which produce the external magnetic field He, varying in direction and with time. The variations in He result in two independent current systems within the Earth. The deepest flow in a thick circuit. The total induced intensity depends only on the amplitude of He and not on the distribution of resistivity within the conducting layer. If it were possible to make measurements on the surface of this layer, they could be interpreted in terms of local induction. However, in practice, the only measurements possible are on the surface of the uppermost layer. This layer, for very low-frequency phenomena, is certainly not like a thick conductor. Let us suppose, for example, that its average resistivity is around 10Qm. The frequency corresponding to p=lOkm and p=lOQm is 25~1O-~Hz (T=40s). For variations with periods greater than one or two minutes, the current must flow as if in a thin circuit. The induced current intensity depends on the resistance and self-inductance of the whole near-surface circuit and it is no longer possible to consider the electric field E as representing a limited region in the immediate vicinity of the point of measurements. In addition, as the crust is vertically and horizontally heterogeneous, the current will take the path of least resistance, flowing around resistant obstacles and concentrating in conducting zones such as oceans and sedimentary basins. The pattern of current flow will be complicated and, moreover, variable in time with the orientation of the inducing magnetic field. A complete analysis of the effects therefore becomes impossible because we would have to know the source characteristics and, at the same time, the resistivity distribution throughout the crust.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266971680_Earth_electricity_A_review_of_mechanisms_which_cause_telluric_currents_in_the_lithosphere

Producing electricitySeveral models depict electricity-generationprocesses. Four of these are useful in conjunction withthe study of telluric currents. These are listed in Table 3,with a brief explanation for each.Charged particles, if they change location, transfercharge. Charged particles, such as electrons or ions, aretermed charge carriers. The motions of ions or electronsare examples of the direct transfer of electric charge.A deeper treatment of the ideas in the following de-scription may be found in Jonassen [2002]. Electrostaticinduction is a special case of charged particle transfer.An external charge elicits an electrical response from asecond material containing mobile charge carriers. Thecharge carriers move to neutralize the applied field. Ifthe external charge is positive, for example, then nega-tive charge carriers will migrate within the second ma-terial to the site of the external charge. This model istermed electrostatic induction because the charge trans-fer is induced within one of the materials, but no chargeis transferred between them.A more thorough treatment of the ideas in the fol-lowing description may be found in Schieber [1986].Electromagnetic induction occurs in any electrical con-ductor where a change in a magnetic field occurs, sothat the magnetic flux lines pass through the conduc-tor. The combination of mobile charge carriers andmagnetic flux creates an electromotive force. This is theprinciple behind electrical power generation, for exam-ple. A coil of wire moves through a magnetic field, andthe motion creates electric current in the wire. Elec-tricity is generated.If the charge carriers in a material are not mobile,electricity can be generated by deformation of the ma-terial, or some other process that changes the config-uration of the domains carrying electric charge. Therearrangement of electrical domains can generateelectricity

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266971680_Earth_electricity_A_review_of_mechanisms_which_cause_telluric_currents_in_the_lithosphere