We can’t see the problem, but we will feel it. “Olfactory landscapes” are in danger due to a “triple olfactory threat”.
Climate change is felt in many ways. One of them is in smells, according to new research, which warns of a loss of aromatic signature that could have an impact on health, memory and even emotions and human coexistence.
The research explains how global warming, atmospheric pollution and the disappearance of species are together profoundly transforming so-called “olfactory landscapes”or smellscapes.
These landscapes, found in forests, rivers or gardens, are composed of their own smells thanks to a complex interaction of plants, soils, water and climate, but this “chemical choreography”, as the article dedicated to the topic calls it, is also being disturbed by the increase in temperatures, changes in humidity and pollutants present: the compounds react differently and create — and erase — odors.
Places strongly associated with nature are therefore becoming less intense and more artificial. But the researchers emphasize that this Change is not just ecological: it is also sentimental and cultural.
The human sense of smell is capable of distinguishing more than a billion stimuli and is closely linked to memory and emotion. When a smell disappears, a memory of the world is lost.
This is because, as Science has already proven, air is not only breathed but also interpreted by the brain. Molecules present in the atmosphere influence well-being, cognition and physiological processes. Changes in air composition can have real impacts on the way we feel, experience and interpret places.
The authors speak of a olfactory “triple threat”an offensive compounded by urban pollution, loss of biodiversity and global warming.
Scientific and cultural projects that seek to preserve the world’s smells have already begun to emerge in response to this hidden problem, the magazine notes. Some initiatives attempt to capture and recreate threatened aromas, creating “olfactory archives” of the planet.
