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Drought?
Drought.mp3
Drought.mp4
Drought-Pt-2.mp3
Drought-Pt-2.mp4
Drought-intro.mp3
[Intro]
No doubt (a drought)
[Verse 1]
Is it going to rain
(… maybe or not)
The soil’s in pain
(Maybe a lot….)
[Bridge]
[Instrumental, Guitar Solo]
Soon to find out
(Shout!)
[Chorus]
No doubt (a drought)
Can’t reap what you sow
(Oh, no, no, no)
If it won’t grow
[Bridge]
Hydraulic whiplash
(Splash!)
Instant washout
(Shout!)
[Verse 2]
Is it going to reign
(… upon the poor)
Or will lack of rain
(Result n’ no more)
[Bridge]
[Instrumental, Guitar Solo]
Soon to find out
(Shout!)
[Chorus]
No doubt (a drought)
Can’t reap what you sow
(Oh, no, no, no)
If it won’t grow
[Outro]
Hydraulic whiplash
(Splash!)
Instant washout
(Shout!)
No doubt (a drought)
Can’t reap what you sow
(Oh, no, no, no)
Hydraulic whiplash
(It’s a mad dash)
The human rat race
(Runs out of space)
ABOUT THE SCIENCE
The Earth is a climate system. Global warming is driven by an increase in thermal energy within the Earth’s climate system. This system is made up of interconnected subsystems, including the atmosphere, oceans, and land. Chaos theory highlights the complexity and nonlinearity of these dynamic systems, and this complexity is particularly evident in the intricate interactions between soil, the atmosphere, and the oceans.
Why Soil Might Be the Most Important Piece of the Climate Change Puzzle
Global warming is driven by an increase in thermal energy within the Earth’s climate system. This system is made up of interconnected subsystems, including the atmosphere, oceans, and land. Chaos theory highlights the complexity and nonlinearity of these dynamic systems, and this complexity is particularly evident in the intricate interactions between soil, the atmosphere, and the oceans.
What makes soil so crucial to addressing the climate crisis is its unique role in these interactions — soil is alive. Unlike the atmosphere or oceans, which are primarily composed of inorganic matter and operate as passive systems, soil is a living, dynamic medium that supports a vast array of organisms, from microbes to plant roots. These organisms play a central role in processes like carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and water retention, all of which directly influence climate stability. Soil offers the most adaptable and interactive mechanisms for slowing or preventing a wide range of climate feedback loops.
Soil’s importance lies in its ability to store carbon. Healthy soil acts as a carbon sink, capturing and holding carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, when soil becomes degraded or erodes, this carbon is released back into the atmosphere, amplifying the effects of global warming.
When soil “dies,” it undergoes a process known as desertification. Desertification is a critical state where once-fertile land becomes barren and incapable of supporting life, leading to the loss of its carbon sequestration capacity. This transformation not only reduces the soil’s ability to mitigate climate change but also accelerates it, as barren land is often more prone to erosion and less able to retain moisture.
Climate change hydraulic whiplash, also known as hydroclimate whiplash, refers to the increase in rapid, extreme swings between wet and dry weather conditions globally. This phenomenon is driven by a warmer atmosphere’s increased capacity to hold and release moisture, which can lead to both more intense floods and more severe droughts. The “whiplash” effect is damaging because it creates conditions that fuel wildfires by causing rapid vegetation growth during wet periods followed by extreme drying, and it strains water management systems.
In just ten days during July 2025, hundreds of flash floods swept across the United States, inundating communities from coast to coast, leaving hundreds dead and causing billions of dollars in damage. At least five “1-in-1,000-year” rainfall events — storms with just a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year under past climate conditions — struck Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Florida, and Illinois. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Iowa reported multiple “500-year” floods as extreme rainfall overwhelmed infrastructure across much of the country. Rising temperatures increase the amount of humidity in the atmosphere, as warmer air holds more moisture. The Clausius-Clapeyron equation shows that for every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperature, the air can hold about 7% more water vapor. This not only raises relative humidity, posing health risks, but it also amplifies the intensity of extreme weather events like storms, floods, and hurricanes.
Drought → Fire → Dieback → Carbon Feedback
Drought stresses trees, increasing their flammability and reducing CO2 uptake. When fires ignite, they release stored carbon, turning regions like the Amazon from carbon sinks into carbon sources. Brown carbon from wildfire smoke settles on snow and ice worldwide, darkening surfaces, accelerating melt, and contributing to AMOC slowdown — further feeding the climate system’s instability.
Supercells, the most intense and dangerous type of thunderstorm, produce increased lightning strikes and are responsible for most strong tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and flash floods. Climate change is driving both the frequency and intensity of these storms.
An escalating climate feedback loop is emerging: increasingly intense and frequent wildfires release vast amounts of carbon dioxide and black carbon into the atmosphere, which accelerates global warming. This warming, in turn, creates hotter, drier, and stormier conditions that boost both lightning frequency and wildfire risk. The cycle is self-reinforcing — each wildfire worsens the climate crisis while setting the stage for even more fires.
Ignite a Domino Effect: Albedo, Brown Carbon, AMOC, Permafrost, Amazon Rainforest Dieback, Sea Level Rise Pulses, Hydroclimate Whiplash, and Arctic Sea Ice
The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment
From the album “Reap“
View all episodes
By Drought.mp3
Drought.mp4
Drought-Pt-2.mp3
Drought-Pt-2.mp4
Drought-intro.mp3
[Intro]
No doubt (a drought)
[Verse 1]
Is it going to rain
(… maybe or not)
The soil’s in pain
(Maybe a lot….)
[Bridge]
[Instrumental, Guitar Solo]
Soon to find out
(Shout!)
[Chorus]
No doubt (a drought)
Can’t reap what you sow
(Oh, no, no, no)
If it won’t grow
[Bridge]
Hydraulic whiplash
(Splash!)
Instant washout
(Shout!)
[Verse 2]
Is it going to reign
(… upon the poor)
Or will lack of rain
(Result n’ no more)
[Bridge]
[Instrumental, Guitar Solo]
Soon to find out
(Shout!)
[Chorus]
No doubt (a drought)
Can’t reap what you sow
(Oh, no, no, no)
If it won’t grow
[Outro]
Hydraulic whiplash
(Splash!)
Instant washout
(Shout!)
No doubt (a drought)
Can’t reap what you sow
(Oh, no, no, no)
Hydraulic whiplash
(It’s a mad dash)
The human rat race
(Runs out of space)
ABOUT THE SCIENCE
The Earth is a climate system. Global warming is driven by an increase in thermal energy within the Earth’s climate system. This system is made up of interconnected subsystems, including the atmosphere, oceans, and land. Chaos theory highlights the complexity and nonlinearity of these dynamic systems, and this complexity is particularly evident in the intricate interactions between soil, the atmosphere, and the oceans.
Why Soil Might Be the Most Important Piece of the Climate Change Puzzle
Global warming is driven by an increase in thermal energy within the Earth’s climate system. This system is made up of interconnected subsystems, including the atmosphere, oceans, and land. Chaos theory highlights the complexity and nonlinearity of these dynamic systems, and this complexity is particularly evident in the intricate interactions between soil, the atmosphere, and the oceans.
What makes soil so crucial to addressing the climate crisis is its unique role in these interactions — soil is alive. Unlike the atmosphere or oceans, which are primarily composed of inorganic matter and operate as passive systems, soil is a living, dynamic medium that supports a vast array of organisms, from microbes to plant roots. These organisms play a central role in processes like carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and water retention, all of which directly influence climate stability. Soil offers the most adaptable and interactive mechanisms for slowing or preventing a wide range of climate feedback loops.
Soil’s importance lies in its ability to store carbon. Healthy soil acts as a carbon sink, capturing and holding carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, when soil becomes degraded or erodes, this carbon is released back into the atmosphere, amplifying the effects of global warming.
When soil “dies,” it undergoes a process known as desertification. Desertification is a critical state where once-fertile land becomes barren and incapable of supporting life, leading to the loss of its carbon sequestration capacity. This transformation not only reduces the soil’s ability to mitigate climate change but also accelerates it, as barren land is often more prone to erosion and less able to retain moisture.
Climate change hydraulic whiplash, also known as hydroclimate whiplash, refers to the increase in rapid, extreme swings between wet and dry weather conditions globally. This phenomenon is driven by a warmer atmosphere’s increased capacity to hold and release moisture, which can lead to both more intense floods and more severe droughts. The “whiplash” effect is damaging because it creates conditions that fuel wildfires by causing rapid vegetation growth during wet periods followed by extreme drying, and it strains water management systems.
In just ten days during July 2025, hundreds of flash floods swept across the United States, inundating communities from coast to coast, leaving hundreds dead and causing billions of dollars in damage. At least five “1-in-1,000-year” rainfall events — storms with just a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year under past climate conditions — struck Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Florida, and Illinois. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Iowa reported multiple “500-year” floods as extreme rainfall overwhelmed infrastructure across much of the country. Rising temperatures increase the amount of humidity in the atmosphere, as warmer air holds more moisture. The Clausius-Clapeyron equation shows that for every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperature, the air can hold about 7% more water vapor. This not only raises relative humidity, posing health risks, but it also amplifies the intensity of extreme weather events like storms, floods, and hurricanes.
Drought → Fire → Dieback → Carbon Feedback
Drought stresses trees, increasing their flammability and reducing CO2 uptake. When fires ignite, they release stored carbon, turning regions like the Amazon from carbon sinks into carbon sources. Brown carbon from wildfire smoke settles on snow and ice worldwide, darkening surfaces, accelerating melt, and contributing to AMOC slowdown — further feeding the climate system’s instability.
Supercells, the most intense and dangerous type of thunderstorm, produce increased lightning strikes and are responsible for most strong tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and flash floods. Climate change is driving both the frequency and intensity of these storms.
An escalating climate feedback loop is emerging: increasingly intense and frequent wildfires release vast amounts of carbon dioxide and black carbon into the atmosphere, which accelerates global warming. This warming, in turn, creates hotter, drier, and stormier conditions that boost both lightning frequency and wildfire risk. The cycle is self-reinforcing — each wildfire worsens the climate crisis while setting the stage for even more fires.
Ignite a Domino Effect: Albedo, Brown Carbon, AMOC, Permafrost, Amazon Rainforest Dieback, Sea Level Rise Pulses, Hydroclimate Whiplash, and Arctic Sea Ice
The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment
From the album “Reap“