Why is air in a sunny park different than air in a office cubicle with harsh bright lights when it is both air? Is it a placebo or a real thing?
In: Planetary Science
It’s a real thing and there’s a few differences. But it’s important to mention it’s not just fresh “AIR” so much as a fresh “ENVIRONMENT”.
The first is that the air is heated by sun, not by an internal system. This affects its humidity and the way in which the overall space is heated. On a sunny day, it’ll be warmer near an asphalt path, but cooler under a tree, and the humidity content is changed greatly by growing plants. Office spaces usually target a uniform temperature and uniform humidity. So you don’t get the changes that’ll happen as you pass through a park or even just picnic in one place as the breeze continually changes the air around you..
The “smellscape” and types and contents of air impurities is different. There are lots of contributors in parks to nature-like outdoorsy smells, but an office is more about cleaning supplies or scents picked up by fabrics and released over time. One is usually more natural and appeals more than the other, even if we don’t consciously notice it. Inside you get dust that comes from human skin flakes or clothing wear and tear, or from the slow wearing away of the carpet. Outside, the dust is removed or lost by things like rainfall or breezes or anything else.
Next, the air in a park is moved by random breezes or somewhat less random winds, but there are little differences in pressure that deliver different sensations to your skin, sometimes noticeable and sometimes not. These might be more of a distraction than an asset in an office setting where the target is to have air moving in an efficient circulation pattern that doesn’t cause whiffs to blow papers off of desks or make noticeable noises. Instead you get the “white noise”, not the quiet rustling of leaves or the swishing of walking through short grass, and if you want some “randomness” you have to get a pivoting fan going.
Finally, “fresh air” includes “fresh sightscape” and “relaxation”. People associate a park with positive experiences like exercise and breathing deeply. People associate office spaces with often-negative experiences like having to work or having interpersonal conflict, or dealing with obligations or less-than-pleasant people. All of that adds to the overall perception of a park being more “fresh”.
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