People in countries where extreme cold occurs are in a strange state of fear. On top of the bone-chilling cold, meteorologists have warned that a polar frost storm is approaching. The temperature could drop to minus 25 degrees! Meanwhile, a strange news has spread on social media that trees could explode like bombs in extreme cold! Is it a rumor or true? Let’s find out.
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This phenomenon of tree cracking is called the polar vortex. It is a huge coil of air rotating over the two polar regions of the world. It usually remains above the polar regions. But sometimes due to climate change or wind pressure, it moves from its place and descends. Then the bone-chilling cold air from the polar regions spreads to the localities. This is exactly what is happening in the United States now. Due to this freezing air coming down from the North Pole, the temperature is dropping far below freezing.
The phenomenon of tree cracking is called the polar vortex. It is a huge coil of air rotating over the two polar regions of the world. It usually remains above the polar regions.
Do trees really explode?
Yes, trees can explode. But it’s not exactly like the internet says, “They’ll explode like a bomb.” It’s better to call it a loud explosion rather than an explosion. People have witnessed this phenomenon for hundreds of years. The 18th-century Scottish botanist John Claudius wrote that during a severe winter in 1683, the trunks of oak and walnut trees exploded in such a way that it looked like someone was shooting! Even the Lakota people of the Native American community call a certain month of winter Chanapopa Wi. It means the moon of tree explosions in winter.
There is a very simple law of physics behind this. We know that when water freezes into ice, it increases in volume. There is sap inside the tree. When the temperature drops below freezing, this sap inside the tree begins to freeze.
But if the temperature drops below minus 20 degrees, then danger occurs. In the extreme cold, the outer bark of the tree shrinks and wants to shrink. But the sap that has accumulated inside still expands and occupies space. Due to this contraction of the outer bark and the expansion of the inner sap, the bark of the tree can no longer hold the pressure. It bursts with a loud noise. Much like when a glass bottle of water is left in a deep freezer, it bursts. This is usually more common in maple, oak, apple or willow trees. This sound can be heard when the temperature drops very quickly.
A tree can make a loud noise when it cracks, it may sound like a gunshot. But the likelihood of harming people is very low. The tree may be slightly damaged, but most trees heal themselves when spring comes. So there is no need to panic about the news of a tree bursting. Rather, one should be afraid of extreme cold. Because, the risk of hypothermia in that cold is much higher than the tree bursting.
