Here’s why the smell of desert rain may be good for your health
Desert dwellers know it well: the smell of rain and the feeling of euphoria that comes when a storm washes over the parched Earth. That feeling – and the additional health benefits that come with it – may be the result of oils and other chemicals released by desert plants after a good soaking, new University of Arizona research suggests. … [Gary Nabhan, a research social scientist at the UArizona Southwest Center] is lead author of two new studies … that explain how volatile organic compounds that evolved to protect plants from damaging solar radiation, heat waves, drought stress and predatory animals may also have health benefits for humans.