Fact Check: Is Quebec Forest in Canada breathing?
By Aiswarya Sriram Published on 30 March 2020 7:14 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A video showing that the forest is breathing in the Quebec City of Canada has been going viral on social media.
It was first tweeted by artist Daniel Holland in October 2018, after which the video went viral.
In the video, it seems like the land is throbbing, which makes us feel like the forest is breathing. But is the forest really breathing?
Fact Check:
No, the forest land is not breathing as claimed by many in social media. It is a trait of a tree to pull a land when torrent winds try to uproot it.
"No, the forest is not breathing. Trees are holding the ground like a mat. Winds are pushing trees and which in return are pulling the ground and then releasing," said Indian Forest Service officer, Praveen Kaswan.
Similar videos of other forests were also widely circulated. In 2011 a video from Finland went viral. The video showed the forest land is breathing. It happened during the Boxing Day storm in Finland.
The phenomenon was also explained by David Bressan in an article that how due to the movement of trees, it looks like forest land is breathing. "During a storm the ground becomes saturated with water, reducing the soil's cohesion. As strong winds move the top of the tree, the force is transferred by the stem, acting as a lever, to the roots and the ground begins to move," David Bressan wrote in Forbes.
Hence the claim that forest land is breathing is FALSE. It is just a natural occurrence during storms.
