The forest is displeased. Trees are wobbling, the wind is howling, and huge tufts of Earth are rising and falling as if lifted by a humongous pair of lungs pumping just below the soil.

森林的怒火一触即发，枝干战栗，狂风呼啸，大地如有肺腑一般，上下起伏，形状骇人。

That's certainly what it looks like in a recent video making the rounds on social media. Filmed earlier this month in a forest in Quebec, Canada, the clip shows what appears to be the Earth itself doing a deep-breathing exercise, lurching up and down with unsettling force.

这不是什么虚构的场景。近日，网友在加拿大魁北克省拍摄了一则视频，画面中的大地如同生灵一般，做着“呼吸”的动作，泥土连带着树木上下起伏，场面十分怪异。

It's not an earthquake. It's not an artificial scene designed for a horror movie. The real explanation is much less whimsical, and much less terrifying. Simply put, it's the wind.

这并不是地震，也不是恐怖片里的什么道具效果。发生这种现象的原因也不是什么天方夜谭。简单来说，是风在作祟。

Here's the scientists' explanation. During a rainstorm event, the ground becomes saturated, loosening the soil's cohesion with the roots as the wind is blowing on a tree's crown. The wind is trying to push the trees over, and as the force is transferred to the roots, the ground begins to "heave".

科学家对此这样解释：发生暴风雨时，土壤的含水量会大幅增加，随着强风推动高耸的树木，饱含水分的泥土和树根之间失去了原有的作用力。因此当树冠受到风吹，树根将受力传导到地下，土壤就会“上下起伏”，犹如呼吸一般。

However, it's still dangerous and worth your concern. If the wind blows harder or lasts longer, the tree roots would likely start snapping, and the forest would start to topple.

但是，这种情形十分危险，当你看到这种现象便需要立即远离。因为当风吹得再猛一点，持续得再长一点，那么树根就有可能断裂，整棵树木便会倒下。

This phenomenon is quite dramatic, yet trees actually do breathe, by replacing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with oxygen via photosynthesis. The soil breathes, too, in a backward sort of way. Tiny microbes living underground chow down on the CO2 stored in plant roots and dead leaves, then release that CO2 back into the air. This is called soil respiration, and it's been happening a lot more in the last 25 years, thanks to climate change.

这一“大地呼吸”的现象看上去尽管匪夷所思，但是树木的确会呼吸，通过光合作用吸收大气中的二氧化碳，排出氧气。泥土也时刻都在呼吸，只不过过程相异。土壤中的微生物将树根和枯叶中的二氧化碳“揪”出来，然后再排入大气。这一过程被称为土壤呼吸，并且由于气候变化不断加剧，在过去的25年中，土壤呼吸排放的二氧化碳量不断增长，已经成为了让科学家头疼的一大问题。

Vocabulary

tuft: n. 丛；簇

humongous: adj. 极大的

lurch: v. 摇晃

whimsical: adj. 异想天开的

topple: v. 倾倒；跌倒