Lovely rain... but a recurring question...

[sbisson]

Thunder is rumbling around South London, and the heavens have opened, cooling things down nicely after a busy day involving furniture construction, an interesting press event, and a hot afternoon's shopping for this year's summer wardobe...

But, as marypcb and I were walking back down the road from the tube station it was just starting to spit with rain, leaving us with a question that keeps coming back: what is it that makes that lovely smell of rain on warm pavements?

Comments

[nmg.livejournal.com]

New Scientist had something about this on its back page (The Last Word) a few years ago. The upshot was that the smell is due to Streptomyces bacteria - you can read the full answer online.