Hey wow! Blogspot.com just added this beautiful little composition doodad to the post creation. Great job guys! Now things will be alot easier to prettify. Okay, now I'm just abusing it, but its still pretty neat.
Okay, back to the topic at hand. Ever wonder what that wonderful after rain smell really is? Is it just the extra moisture in the air you're smelling? Or is it because grass has a natural aroma that we don't normally smell because of the layer of dirt coating it, and the dirt is washed away when it rains?
Well, its neither of these things, but easily plausable still, I suppose.
The real truth behind this is really because trees excrete oils from it bark over time. So when the sky starts to fall on our heads, the oil mixes itself with the water. The water serves as an aerosol for the oil, very much like gas in a bug spray can, so that when the rain stops, and the water starts to evaporate, it carries with it some of the oil, which proceeds to float into our nasal passages, to make contact with the smell receptors. That's what causes the after rain aroma.
But that's not the only reason. That's right. There's more than one cause for this smell.
You may have already said to yourself, "I don't have any trees anywhere near my home for miles. How could this be?" Don't worry, Comrade Kenny will tell you and make you all smart and comfy about this. The other cause of the freshly cut grass smell are spores. Thats right. Spores. Before you all panic and rush yourselves to the nearest ER, think about this. We've really been breathing in these into our lungs for ages. Now, there's nothing growing in you, nor are you suffering some debilitating lung disease, are you? Are you?
I'm sure you'd want to know what kind of spores are these? Simple. They belong to bacteria called Actinomycetes. So that means you're not going to grow mushrooms in your lungs anytime soon if you're still not convinced that the spores aren't detrimental to your health. You're going to get a debilitating disease that eats away at your brain. Anyways, these Actinomycetes things live in moist soil, and produce spores when its dry, very much like most other bacteria when faced with hostile environments. So when raindrops land on the soil, it kicks up all the little buggers into the air as well as transport then when the water evaporates into the air.
Not all after rain smells smell so great though, as most may have noticed, especially if you're a sity slicker. This is thanks pretty much to humans in general, and not because dogs, cats, and rats have been peeing and pooing around the alleys and streets, or even in your prize winning bed of flowers. I'm sure they'd (the dogs, cats, and rats) like us to thank them anyway, for making the world a much more fertile place, but humans don't have kind of appreciation, so there's no gratitude for them here. Probably the reason why they poo at your doorstep every once in a while. Just so you'd notice their contribution and remember to thank them for enriching the front door with nutrients.
As I was saying, the cause of the unpleasent smells is acid rain. Yup. It falls, mixes with organics and breaks them down, or mixes with all the chemical crap that we throw around that causes it to react and produce strong smells, stronger than that of tree oil and bacteria spores. And these smells are generally unpleasant. I would know. I walk by some drains on the way to work and get englufed by these "aroma's".
Its a general rule that the longer it doesn't rain, the stronger the smells will be. This dry period allows all the goop I mentioned to accumulate; the trees become oilier, bacteria become spore-rier, and streets become crappier.
Hope you're all happier knowing what after rain smell consists of, and that you're all able to go to sleep smiling, knowing more than the person who hasn't read this about after rain smells, allowing you to become more of a smart ass. Enjoy.
Okay, back to the topic at hand. Ever wonder what that wonderful after rain smell really is? Is it just the extra moisture in the air you're smelling? Or is it because grass has a natural aroma that we don't normally smell because of the layer of dirt coating it, and the dirt is washed away when it rains?
Well, its neither of these things, but easily plausable still, I suppose.
The real truth behind this is really because trees excrete oils from it bark over time. So when the sky starts to fall on our heads, the oil mixes itself with the water. The water serves as an aerosol for the oil, very much like gas in a bug spray can, so that when the rain stops, and the water starts to evaporate, it carries with it some of the oil, which proceeds to float into our nasal passages, to make contact with the smell receptors. That's what causes the after rain aroma.
But that's not the only reason. That's right. There's more than one cause for this smell.
You may have already said to yourself, "I don't have any trees anywhere near my home for miles. How could this be?" Don't worry, Comrade Kenny will tell you and make you all smart and comfy about this. The other cause of the freshly cut grass smell are spores. Thats right. Spores. Before you all panic and rush yourselves to the nearest ER, think about this. We've really been breathing in these into our lungs for ages. Now, there's nothing growing in you, nor are you suffering some debilitating lung disease, are you? Are you?
I'm sure you'd want to know what kind of spores are these? Simple. They belong to bacteria called Actinomycetes. So that means you're not going to grow mushrooms in your lungs anytime soon if you're still not convinced that the spores aren't detrimental to your health. You're going to get a debilitating disease that eats away at your brain. Anyways, these Actinomycetes things live in moist soil, and produce spores when its dry, very much like most other bacteria when faced with hostile environments. So when raindrops land on the soil, it kicks up all the little buggers into the air as well as transport then when the water evaporates into the air.
Not all after rain smells smell so great though, as most may have noticed, especially if you're a sity slicker. This is thanks pretty much to humans in general, and not because dogs, cats, and rats have been peeing and pooing around the alleys and streets, or even in your prize winning bed of flowers. I'm sure they'd (the dogs, cats, and rats) like us to thank them anyway, for making the world a much more fertile place, but humans don't have kind of appreciation, so there's no gratitude for them here. Probably the reason why they poo at your doorstep every once in a while. Just so you'd notice their contribution and remember to thank them for enriching the front door with nutrients.
As I was saying, the cause of the unpleasent smells is acid rain. Yup. It falls, mixes with organics and breaks them down, or mixes with all the chemical crap that we throw around that causes it to react and produce strong smells, stronger than that of tree oil and bacteria spores. And these smells are generally unpleasant. I would know. I walk by some drains on the way to work and get englufed by these "aroma's".
Its a general rule that the longer it doesn't rain, the stronger the smells will be. This dry period allows all the goop I mentioned to accumulate; the trees become oilier, bacteria become spore-rier, and streets become crappier.
Hope you're all happier knowing what after rain smell consists of, and that you're all able to go to sleep smiling, knowing more than the person who hasn't read this about after rain smells, allowing you to become more of a smart ass. Enjoy.
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