A viral video captures a section of a forest in Quebec heaving to and fro, looking like it’s living and breathing, or even exploding soon. What could be behind the phenomenon?
Filmed in a forest in Sacre-Coeur, Quebec, Canada, a viral clip shows trees wobbling while the wind is howling, with huge tufts of Earth rising and falling as if lifted by a humongous pair of lungs pumping just below the soil. Or is it something else?
Well, apparently there’s an explanation, which is much less creepy and more down-to-earth. According to Mark Sirois of the Southern Quebec Severe Weather Network, we are witnessing an occurrence whereby the elements came together just right to create this eerie scene.
“When you look at the trees in the background, it’s clear that the winds were very strong,” Sirois explains. “The forest floor seems to be moss covered, which leaves a lot of the root system of younger trees lodged in a loose medium. As the wind sways the trees, you get the roots lifting the floor. This gives the appearance of ‘breathing.’”
Sirois’s explanation is supported by other meteorological experts who agree that there’s nothing unusual in the scene, despite looking so eerie.
“During a rain- and wind-storm event, the ground becomes saturated, ‘loosening’ the soil’s cohesion with the roots as the wind is blowing on a tree’s crown,” Mark Vanderwouw, an arborist working with Shady Lane Expert Tree Care in Ontario, Canada, told The Weather Network. “The wind is trying to ‘push’ the trees over, and as the force is transferred to the roots, the ground begins to ‘heave.’”
So, most probably, it’s just the wind.
Of course, others may have a different opinion.
Sources: 1, 2, 3,