--- title: Breathing Forest Viral Video Explained By an Expert description: A video of a forest in Quebec looking like the ground was breathing went viral, but there's a perfectly normal reason for the scene. canonical: https://time.com/5433267/breathing-forest/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-24T16:34:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:38.121Z og:title: Why the Forest Looks Like It's Breathing in That Viral Video og:description: The video of a forest moving strangely went viral, but there's an explanation og:url: https://time.com/5433267/breathing-forest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why the Forest Looks Like It's Breathing in That Viral Video twitter:description: The video of a forest moving strangely went viral, but there's an explanation twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's Why This Forest Looks Like It's 'Breathing' in That Viral Video Making the Internet Hyperventilate  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 24, 2018 4:34 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 24, 2018 4:34 PM UTC No, it’s not special effects: this video really does capture a section of a forest in [Quebec](http://time.com/4974932/the-50-best-places-to-travel-in-2017/item/montreal-quebec/) heaving to and fro, looking like it’s a living, breathing, sentient woodland. But no, there’s no mysterious [magic](http://time.com/5383334/best-books-like-harry-potter/) at work here, even if it is suspiciously [close to Halloween](http://time.com/5433032/jimmy-kimmel-halloween-prank/). No giants are asleep under those rocks; no spooky forest spirits are at play. Instead, explains Mark Sirois of the [Southern Quebec Severe Weather Network](http://www.sqswn.ca/?fbclid=IwAR0r6My2iI35JE-opoBQwppbBDo%5Fgf72d6UBI6UokJxuRgOvXCndnntjfOg), it’s an understandable meteorological phenomenon in which the elements have come together just right to create this unusual scene, which was captured and shared around online in a video that went viral earlier this week. “When you look at the trees in the background, it’s clear that the winds were very strong,” Sirois notes. “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 [corroborated](https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/wind-causes-forest-to-start-breathing-sacre-coeur-quebec-canada-october-2018/115245) by other meteorological experts who agree that there’s nothing amiss in the scene, despite its unsettling appearance. So now we know: while forests do “breathe” in and release carbon dioxide and oxygen, the forest floor? Not so much a respirating organism. Blame that one on the wind. > [](https://twitter.com/DannyDutch/status/1053684469457149952) > [](https://twitter.com/orimental/status/1053749476110696448) > [](https://twitter.com/chris%5Fkaiju/status/1053759212436762630) > [](https://twitter.com/CharleyQuinn89/status/1053732980768813056) > [](https://twitter.com/KeevanGuy/status/1053759906002673666) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5433267/breathing-forest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5433267/breathing-forest/"},"headline":"Here's Why This Forest Looks Like It's 'Breathing' in That Viral Video Making the Internet Hyperventilate","datePublished":"2018-10-24T16:34:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:38.121Z","description":"Nature is wild","url":"https://time.com/5433267/breathing-forest/","keywords":["Newsfeed","weather","Environment","viral","nature"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5433267/breathing-forest/","name":"Here's Why This Forest Looks Like It's 'Breathing' in That Viral Video Making the Internet Hyperventilate"}}]}] ```