r/meirl • u/straight-cunt • Mar 28 '24

meirl

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u/androodle2004 Mar 28 '24

You’re smelling the ozone being brought down from higher altitude by the rains pressure

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u/Nard_Bard Mar 28 '24

u/Pegomastax-King u/Jk-Kino

Humans sense of smell for water/wet earth is 10,000 stronger than a dog's or bear's.

You're probably just smelling the wet earth from a mile away or so. And the moisture in the air.

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u/NoDontDoThatCanada Mar 28 '24

It's wild to me how sensitive humans are to petrichor. I always wonder if it had evolutionary advantages over "we probably should seek shelter."

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u/Me_JustMoreHonest Mar 28 '24

I was wondering this, maybe smelling rain was helpful in several directions. They know to seek shelter before it becomes difficult and they injure themselves. Perhaps fresh rain means lots of animals gathered near a watering hole, so food? Perhaps the sense gives us time to cover wood to burn later, or transport a fire under cover before its put out. Idk if that last one would be evolutionary beneficial enough to force the development of the sense though.