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Cascading System Failures
Cascading-System-Failures-Best-Of.mp3
Cascading-System-Failures-Best-Of.mp4
Cascading-System-Failures.mp3
Cascading-System-Failures.mp4
Cascading-System-Failures-intro.mp3
[Intro]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Oh, brother)
[Verse 1]
Hear here
(The alarm bells ringing)
Here hear
(The canary stopped singing)
[Chorus]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Oh, brother)
[Bridge]
One thing led to another
(… and another and another and…)
And the next thing…
(Became evermore troubling)
[Verse 2]
Hear clear
(The sirens’ wailing)
Steer clear
(Of cascading failing)
[Chorus]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Couldn’t recover)
[Bridge]
One thing led to another
(… and another and another and…)
And the next thing…
(Became evermore troubling)
[Chorus]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Couldn’t recover)
[Outro]
Soon to discover
(One thing led to another)
… and another and another and…
(… and another and another and…)
And the next thing…
(Became evermore troubling)
Until the next thing….
(Became nevermore)
… troubling
ABOUT THE SONG AND THE SCIENCE: Tipping Points Igniting a Domino Effect
We knew tipping points would eventually trigger self-sustaining feedback loops in the climate system–and now, they have arrived. I was prepared for that part.
What I could not fully envision was how rapidly the interplay among these tipping points would ignite a domino effect–so, so fast.
Now, I see it clearly: the nonlinear, dynamic dance of economic, physical, and ecological systems unfolding in real time. Abstract models are transforming into undeniable, measurable reality before our eyes.
Cascading System Failures
The breakdown of climate subsystems will not follow a smooth, linear decline. Instead, as one subsystem fails, it accelerates the failure of others, creating cascading, compounding effects across the entire climate system.
There are too many interconnected subsystems to list exhaustively, but consider one example:
The collapse of the AMOC slows ocean circulation, leading to hotter tropics and a warmer Arctic. This accelerates polar ice melt, causing sea levels to rise more rapidly while injecting large volumes of freshwater into the North Atlantic, further destabilizing the AMOC in a reinforcing loop.
At the same time, a disrupted climate system increases droughts in the Amazon, pushing the rainforest toward dieback and desertification. As the Amazon loses its ability to recycle rainfall and sequester carbon, it further amplifies global warming, which then accelerates ice melt, sea level rise, and AMOC collapse.
This example is just one piece of a much larger mosaic of cascading feedback loops already unfolding, shifting the climate system from a stable state to a chaotic, accelerating collapse.
* Our probabilistic, ensemble-based climate model — which incorporates complex socio-economic and ecological feedback loops within a dynamic, nonlinear system — projects that global temperatures are becoming unsustainable this century. This far exceeds earlier estimates of a 4°C rise over the next thousand years, highlighting a dramatic acceleration in global warming. We are now entering a phase of compound, cascading collapse, where climate, ecological, and societal systems destabilize through interlinked, self-reinforcing feedback loops.
What Can I Do?
The single most important action you can take to help address the climate crisis is simple: stop burning fossil fuels.
Tipping points and feedback loops drive the acceleration of climate change. When one tipping point is breached and triggers others, the cascading collapse is known as the Domino Effect.
The Climate Crisis: Violent Rain | Deadly Humid Heat | Health Collapse | Extreme Weather Events | Insurance | Trees and Deforestation | Soil | Rising Sea Level | Food and Water | Updates
The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment
From the album “Nonlinear“
View all episodes
By Cascading-System-Failures-Best-Of.mp3
Cascading-System-Failures-Best-Of.mp4
Cascading-System-Failures.mp3
Cascading-System-Failures.mp4
Cascading-System-Failures-intro.mp3
[Intro]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Oh, brother)
[Verse 1]
Hear here
(The alarm bells ringing)
Here hear
(The canary stopped singing)
[Chorus]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Oh, brother)
[Bridge]
One thing led to another
(… and another and another and…)
And the next thing…
(Became evermore troubling)
[Verse 2]
Hear clear
(The sirens’ wailing)
Steer clear
(Of cascading failing)
[Chorus]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Couldn’t recover)
[Bridge]
One thing led to another
(… and another and another and…)
And the next thing…
(Became evermore troubling)
[Chorus]
One thing…
(Led to another)
And, before we knew it…
(Couldn’t recover)
[Outro]
Soon to discover
(One thing led to another)
… and another and another and…
(… and another and another and…)
And the next thing…
(Became evermore troubling)
Until the next thing….
(Became nevermore)
… troubling
ABOUT THE SONG AND THE SCIENCE: Tipping Points Igniting a Domino Effect
We knew tipping points would eventually trigger self-sustaining feedback loops in the climate system–and now, they have arrived. I was prepared for that part.
What I could not fully envision was how rapidly the interplay among these tipping points would ignite a domino effect–so, so fast.
Now, I see it clearly: the nonlinear, dynamic dance of economic, physical, and ecological systems unfolding in real time. Abstract models are transforming into undeniable, measurable reality before our eyes.
Cascading System Failures
The breakdown of climate subsystems will not follow a smooth, linear decline. Instead, as one subsystem fails, it accelerates the failure of others, creating cascading, compounding effects across the entire climate system.
There are too many interconnected subsystems to list exhaustively, but consider one example:
The collapse of the AMOC slows ocean circulation, leading to hotter tropics and a warmer Arctic. This accelerates polar ice melt, causing sea levels to rise more rapidly while injecting large volumes of freshwater into the North Atlantic, further destabilizing the AMOC in a reinforcing loop.
At the same time, a disrupted climate system increases droughts in the Amazon, pushing the rainforest toward dieback and desertification. As the Amazon loses its ability to recycle rainfall and sequester carbon, it further amplifies global warming, which then accelerates ice melt, sea level rise, and AMOC collapse.
This example is just one piece of a much larger mosaic of cascading feedback loops already unfolding, shifting the climate system from a stable state to a chaotic, accelerating collapse.
* Our probabilistic, ensemble-based climate model — which incorporates complex socio-economic and ecological feedback loops within a dynamic, nonlinear system — projects that global temperatures are becoming unsustainable this century. This far exceeds earlier estimates of a 4°C rise over the next thousand years, highlighting a dramatic acceleration in global warming. We are now entering a phase of compound, cascading collapse, where climate, ecological, and societal systems destabilize through interlinked, self-reinforcing feedback loops.
What Can I Do?
The single most important action you can take to help address the climate crisis is simple: stop burning fossil fuels.
Tipping points and feedback loops drive the acceleration of climate change. When one tipping point is breached and triggers others, the cascading collapse is known as the Domino Effect.
The Climate Crisis: Violent Rain | Deadly Humid Heat | Health Collapse | Extreme Weather Events | Insurance | Trees and Deforestation | Soil | Rising Sea Level | Food and Water | Updates
The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment
From the album “Nonlinear“