[Silence]
[Arrangement: Driving piano rock, Hammond organ, punchy drums, call-and-response vocals, driving anthem]
[Intro]
What’s the word?
(Climate jerk!)
What’s the math?
(Do the work!)
What’s it mean?
(See the scene)
Look ahead!
(Something speeding up instead!)
[Verse 1]
People talk about a warming trend
A curve that rises without end
But there’s another story in the line
Hidden in the slope through time
Not just moving
(Not just fast)
Not just changing
(From the past)
The change itself
(Is changing too)
That’s the clue
(In front of you)
[Pre-Chorus]
Velocity
(That’s one)
Acceleration
(That’s two)
Then comes something
(Bigger than you knew)
[Chorus]
Climate jerk!
(Third derivative!)
Climate jerk!
(Positive and additive!)
Acceleration’s speeding up
(That’s the point)
Climate jerk!
(It gets attention!)
Climate jerk!
(Starts a conversation!)
Sometimes science needs a name…
(That people won’t ignore… any more)
[Verse 2]
The textbooks write it formally
In mathematical clarity
A third derivative through time
A technical but useful sign
Scientists may write a page
Filled with symbols on a stage
But ordinary folks can see
What the numbers seem to mean
[Pre-Chorus]
The slope gets steep
(It doesn’t rest)
The pace increases
(More than guessed)
The trend itself
(Passes the test)
[Chorus]
Climate jerk!
(Third derivative!)
Climate jerk!
(Positive and additive!)
Acceleration’s speeding up
(That’s the point)
Climate jerk!
(It gets attention!)
Climate jerk!
(Starts a conversation!)
Sometimes science needs a name
(That people won’t ignore… any more)
[Bridge]
Call it technical
(Call it plain)
Call it science
(Just explain)
When acceleration grows with time
The signal’s written in the climb
The math is serious
(The name’s a hook)
Gets folks talking
(Take a look)
Hey!
(Hey!)
Hey!
(Hey!)
[Instrumental, Psychedelic Jam, Saxophone Solo]
[Final Chorus]
Climate jerk!
(Third derivative!)
Climate jerk!
(Positive and additive!)
The acceleration’s rising still
(Watch the curve swerve)
Climate jerk!
(It gets attention!)
Climate jerk!
(Starts a conversation!)
[Outro]
What’s the word?
(Climate jerk!)
What’s the math?
(Do the work!)
Read the graph
(Follow the line!)
The future’s written
(One slope at a time!)
No doubt
(To find out)
The denier (crier)
About the Song
The technical term is third-derivative behavior—specifically, when d³I/dt³ > 0, meaning the acceleration itself is increasing. I use the informal term “climate jerk” because it’s more accessible to a general audience and, judging by some of the reactions, it certainly gets people’s attention.
- Observational Evidence for Climate Jerk: Multidisciplinary Indicators of Accelerating Climate Acceleration — Brouse and Mukherjee (June 2026)
- The Compression of Doubling Times Across Earth-System Indicators: Evidence for Increasing Nonlinearity in the Climate System — Brouse and Mukherjee (June 2026)
- Observational Evidence of Climate Jerk — Brouse and Mukherjee (June 2026)
- Beyond Average Warming: Temperature Extremes, Nighttime Heat, and the Emergence of Climate Jerk — Brouse and Mukherjee (June 2026)
- Calculating the Rate of Climate Acceleration in a Nonlinear Earth System — Brouse and Mukherjee (June 2026)
- Jerk-Behavior in Earth’s Rotation: Climate Change, the Third Derivative, and Emerging Risks to Precision Navigation — Brouse and Mukherjee (June 2026)
From the album “In Play“