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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Climate change can alter some of the ingredients and conditions behind petrichor, but there is no evidence that rain smells stronger or weaker worldwide. Warming and drought can change plant emissions, and rainfall can trigger bursts of soil-related compounds. What reaches a person’s nose depends on local weather, vegetation, soil and microbes.
What makes rain smell?
Petrichor is the characteristic earthy smell associated with rain. It is not a single substance: the American Chemical Society’s 2016 educational infographic identifies rain-released geosmin from soil bacteria called actinomycetes, plant compounds that accumulate during dry weather, and sometimes ozone-related scent as contributors.
Raindrops can release geosmin from soil into the air. The American Chemical Society says people can detect it at less than 5 parts per trillion, helping explain why a small amount can contribute noticeably to the smell. Plants also produce volatile compounds during dry weather; some accumulate on soil and rocks before rain helps release them.
Which parts of petrichor might climate change affect?
Climate change could influence petrichor through several connected pathways. These concern emissions and weather conditions; they do not by themselves show that people perceive a global change in rain’s smell.
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| Source or condition | What the evidence reports | What that says about petrichor |
|---|---|---|
| Plant emissions under climate drivers | A 2019 meta-analysis of 74 qualifying studies found different responses among plant isoprenoids and across experimental contexts. In analysed subsets, warming increased isoprene emissions by 53%, while drought reduced them by 15%. | Climate drivers can change some plant-derived ingredients, but those percentages are not changes in petrichor strength or universal forecasts. |
| Long-term heath experiment | A 2016 temperate-heath study found that extended summer drought reduced monoterpene emissions after treatment, while night-time warming increased total emissions, mainly alpha-pinene, in April. Elevated carbon dioxide tended to lower seasonal average emissions, and combined treatments interacted. | Responses can differ by season and by the combination of conditions; one warming result cannot be applied to all plant emissions or all rainy places. |
| Dryland soil rewetting | A 2026 EGU General Assembly abstract reports 58 volatile organic compounds in simulated rewetting emissions across Israel’s aridity gradient. Reported fluxes were 1–3.5 nmol per square metre of ground area per second; patterns were linked to climate region, soil aridity and microbial community composition. | Rewetting can release a complex microbial and soil-related bouquet, and the mix varies across environments. These are emissions measured in simulated rewetting, not a record of what people smell over time. |
Why warming does not simply make petrichor stronger
Plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) do not all respond alike. Feng and colleagues’ 2019 meta-analysis found that isoprene was more affected by climate drivers than monoterpenes. Its warming and drought percentages apply to analysed experimental subsets for isoprene, not to every plant, climate or rain event. A change in one class of compound also does not tell us how the full scent mixture changes.
Field responses add another complication: timing matters. In the 2016 heath experiment, night-time warming was associated with higher total emissions in April, whereas extended summer drought lowered emissions after the drought treatment. Carbon dioxide and combinations of treatments further shaped the results. The measurements describe ecosystem emissions, not how pleasant or intense a person found the smell.
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How rainfall patterns fit into the picture
Rain is part of the mechanism: it can release accumulated plant compounds and trigger soil rewetting emissions. Climate change also alters rainfall and drought patterns, but not uniformly. The IPCC’s 2021 Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group I, Chapter 12, assesses increases in heavy-precipitation frequency and intensity across many well-observed land regions, and increased agricultural and ecological drought in specified drying regions. Those findings do not mean every location will experience the same sequence of longer dry spells followed by rain.
Local vegetation, soil, microbial communities, drought duration, rainfall intensity and season all influence which compounds are emitted and in what amounts. Even where climate changes the emissions, the resulting scent depends on how those compounds mix and reach people.
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What scientists have—and have not—shown
The available findings show plausible mechanisms and measured changes in emissions: plant compounds respond to climate drivers, and rewetting can produce complex VOC bursts. The 2026 EGU abstract also reports that those dryland emissions varied with aridity and microbial community composition.
They do not establish a global trend in the strength or pleasantness of petrichor as people experience it. The cited plant studies measure emitted compounds, the EGU abstract concerns simulated rewetting, and the IPCC assessment covers climate hazards; none tracks human-perceived rain scent worldwide through time. So climate change may be reshaping some local ingredients and circumstances behind petrichor, but whether rain now smells different to people overall remains unestablished.
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