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Australia and the Smell of Rain

Australian poet Mark O'Connor writes of the complex Australian relationship with rain, where a special name has been coined for the smell of rain on parched land: petrichor.

In the third of her curated series of essays about the way rain is experienced across the globe, Nandini Das introduces the Australian poet and environmentalist Mark O'Connor. Mark explores the uniquely Australian experiences of rain, which include the vivid smell of it. The word petrichor was coined by Australian scientists to try and capture the odour of rain on arid lands, but there's more than just petrichor in the air, and there's also great variety in the ways in which different parts of Australia experience rain, from the flash downpours and run-offs in the so-called 'Top End', to the agonising expectation of the farms in the south and the exultant rain chorus of Queensland frogs.

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14 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Wed 3 Mar 2021 22:45
  • Wed 4 Oct 2023 22:45

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