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ENVIRONMENT | Our wonderful world

Intense winds cause Quebec forest to 'breathe'


Cheryl Santa Maria
Digital Reporter

Wednesday, October 17, 2018, 1:48 PM - A video taken in Sacre-Coeur, Quebec Tuesday, has captured Weather Network viewer's attention. In it, strong winds push and pull at the forest floor, making it look like it's 'breathing'.

While forests don't breathe per se, the trees that reside in them do, by taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in a process called photosynthesis.

But unlike humans, this process doesn't involve inhaling and exhaling -- which is exactly what the forest floor in this video appears to be doing.

'Breathing' forests aren't uncommon, and we've received a few videos of the phenomenon over the years.

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WATCH BELOW: INTENSE WINDS CAUSE TREE TO 'BREATHE'



One of the first came in September 2012, sent in by a Weather Network viewer referred to as Tonie, from Fort St. John, B.C.

Mark Vanderwouw, a certified arborist at Shady Lane Expert Tree Care in Newmarket, Ontario, told us at the time the inhaling and exhaling is an optical illusion that has nothing to do with actual 'breathing' and everything to do with the weather.

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"During a rain and windstorm event the ground becomes saturated, 'loosening' the soil's cohesion with the roots as the wind is blowing on a tree's crown," he said.

"The wind is trying to 'push' the trees over, and as the force is transferred to the roots, the ground begins to 'heave'. If the winds were strong enough and lasted long enough more roots would start to break and eventually some of the trees would topple."

VIDEO: MORE TREES 'BREATHING' WITH THE WIND



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