Been There, Smelled That explores the aromas of places around the world. Travel writer Maggie Downs investigates some of the world’s most potent smells, looks at how odor cultivates a connection to place, and presents how humans engage with smells, from scents that have endured generations to the latest innovations in aroma-making.
My dad always said he could smell a storm coming.
When I was little, I thought this was just some folksy midwestern thing, similar to how my uncle would split a persimmon seed with a pocketknife to forecast the upcoming winter.
Now I know my dad’s saying to be true—in part because I do it too, flinging open the front door and sniffing the air to see what kind of weather is coming. But also because that’s how aromas work. Shifts in temperature, air currents, humidity, and barometric pressure all encourage odor molecules to circulate.
On a larger scale, those shifts mean that climate change alters what we smell. Like snow, for instance.
