There's One Thing About Fall Colors Scientists Can't Explain

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It’s one of the most breathtaking natural spectacles on the planet — trillions of green leaves across New England transform into the brilliant hues of fall. This is nature’s masterwork. But how and why do the leaves change color in fall? The answers may surprise you.

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Hosted by Joe Hanson from It's Okay to be Smart, Overview uses incredible 4k drone footage to reveal the natural phenomena shaping our planet from a 10,000-foot view—literally.

[rug]

Did anyone else catch the leaf “falling” up and reattaching itself? 5:20

[pamelapilling]

Being in eastern Canada during the height of fall colours is one if my bucket list experiences.

[mikerotch]

I’m a Vermonter! Always glad to see my little green state get some good exposure

[SeanOHanlon]

The red color comes from Anthocyanins. They are a group of polyphenolic pigments that are ubiquitously found in the plant kingdom. In plants, anthocyanins play a role not only in reproduction, by attracting pollinators and seed dispersers, but also in protection against various abiotic and biotic stresses. This is why maple leaves turn red in the fall.

[Alexander-isjo]

Hey PBS Terra team.
Your videos make my day.
Have you guys consider making podcasts out of this videos? With a little bit of editing (and I mean really little) this videos could make amazing short podcasts.

The idea came out because I watched this video two times today. First time I was making lunch and mostly listened. Enjoyed both ways of content.

[klh]

I used to live in Vermont, it was beautiful and i miss the fall colors. Im in Arkansas now, and it's mostly brown. Winters here are soggy grey affairs that are depressing

[naveenrajeee]

Hi team
Joe voice adds flavor to this series..
Never heard of leaf peeper word..
Thanks pbs terra for another great video..🙏👍

[AdricM]

Ive always wondered if they don't have the additional benefit of bouncing more yellow/orange light back up to the remaining green leaves as a sort of reflector blanket to scatter the light to the less chilled leaves.

[ceooflonelinessinc.]

PBSTerra thank you for providing us this free videos. I have no access to PBS in my country so I watch it here on YouTube.

[lmelior]

Definitely could have a better title, but thumbs up for the gorgeous video with top notch production.

[matthew]

Dam, I want to go to Vermont just to walk in those beautiful forests. Those views are absolutely stunning,

[yadiaag]

In Washington state we are getting late fall too. But we have beautifully colored trees but mostly tons of trees that are ever green.

[SanicTheHidgehag]

If they have the same people "coming to a consensus" about whether leaves have changed to an autumn state, doesn't that leave room for the opinions of the team to skew over time? Such a survey doesn't seem effective at controlling for the team members' acclimation to the fall colors that might be caused by them focusing on leaf colors in autumn more often than in other parts of the year. A more effective survey should use a more objective means of evaluating the leaf colors.

[noeldenever]

Whoa what a visual treat, and lovely narration by doc joe. Thank you very much pbs terra ❤❤❤
As relaxing as this video though...I don't want people to take a breath and calm down when they find out this beauty is threatened by climate change. I want us to panic. Our house is on fire. Everybody, from individuals to corporations and nations, needs to make a change to minimize the effect. We have a bigger chance of success if we see climate change as an immediate issue instead of a faraway concept.

[domitron]

The last little bit of hopium wasn't necessary (nor really accurate), but I loved the rest of it. I do get why we must not accept our climate change fate, though. Mostly because it totally sucks, but the way I see it isn't quite like said in the show. As climate change ramps up, I do think our kids will have bigger fish to fry than missing our brilliantly-colored fall leaves (you know, like survival).

[grahamsawyer]

first thing i watched today - brilliant. thank you PBS!

[renlysotherlover]

The leaves definitely changed late this year it was weird to be in late october and still see green everywhere.

[fingiess]

red changes the way trees reflects heat

[gaillewis]

What baffles me it that saplings produced from fallen seeds of an old tree all have different colors in the fall. Our sassafras trees are red and gold and sometimes both on the same tree. Beautiful but odd.

[HARE]

Thanks for another great episode.
It was fascinating, informative, and beautiful.