[Intro]
The smallest of changes…
(… the world rearranges)
Round and round
(It’s coming down)
Just look around
(Chaos abounds)
Millions!
(Billions!)
Trillions!
(Gawd! Gazillions!)
[Verse 1]
First came the warning
(Then came the shift)
Should have been alarming
(Watching the oceans lift)
What once stood alone
(Now starts to combine)
The feedbacks are coupling
(And crossing the line)
[Refrain]
MILLIONS
(BILLIONS)
TRILLIONS
(Gawd! Gazillions!)
Interacting
(Commingling)
Multiplying
(Amplifying)
There is no start
(There is no end)
The ship did depart
(Now aid, please send)
Feedbacks…
(Feeding back)
Back, back, back
(Feedbacks…)
Feeding back…
(Better get back)
Get back, way back
[Verse 2]
All in the present
(Changes in the air)
A shifting current
(Best become aware)
[Refrain]
MILLIONS
(BILLIONS)
TRILLIONS
(Gawd! Gazillions!)
Interacting
(Commingling)
Multiplying
(Amplifying)
There is no start
(There is no end)
The ship did depart
(Now aid, please send)
Feedbacks…
(Feeding back)
Back, back, back
(Feedbacks…)
Feeding back…
(Better get back)
Get back, way back
[Bridge]
Feedback loops!
(Amplify!)
Tipping points!
(Multiply!)
Feedback network!
(Connect the chain!)
Acceleration!
(Do it again!)
Domino!
(Down they go!)
One system falls
(The next says hello!)
Faster…
(Faster!)
Closer…
(Closer!)
The clock keeps ticking
(The changes keep coming)
The future’s arriving
(Becoming mind numbing?)
[Breakdown]
Millions of interactions…
(Already in motion)
Billions of connections…
(Crossing the ocean)
Trillions of combinations…
(Too many to track)
The whole network’s coupling…
(And feeding right back!)
What’s happening now?
(Look outside!)
What’s coming next?
(You can decide!)
[Instrumental]
(Loop it!)
(Couple it!)
(Amplify!)
(Watch it multiply!)
Back, back, back…
(Feedbacks!)
Round and round…
(Feedbacks!)
[Final Refrain]
MILLIONS
(BILLIONS)
TRILLIONS
(Gawd! Gazillions!)
Interacting
(Commingling)
Multiplying
(Amplifying)
There is no start
(There is no end)
The ship did depart
(Now aid, please send)
Feedbacks…
(Feeding back)
Back, back, back
(Feedbacks…)
Feeding back…
(Better get back)
Get back, way back
[Outro]
MILLIONS!
(BILLIONS!)
TRILLIONS!
(GAWD! GAZILLIONS!)
Loops into tipping points
(Tipping points into chains)
The rate chains accelerate…
(Into domino remains)
Coupling…
(Combining…)
Amplifying…
(Intertwining…)
The network’s emerging
(The future’s in motion)
Just look out your window
(Welcome the ocean!)
Millions…
(Billions…)
Trillions…
(Gawd! Gazillions!)
… and mounting…
(… still counting…)
About the Song
Climate feedbacks are processes in which an initial change in Earth’s climate system triggers additional changes that amplify or dampen the original change. Positive feedbacks amplify the initial warming caused by greenhouse-gas emissions, accelerating climate change beyond what the initial forcing alone would produce.
As Earth’s climate system warms and destabilizes, millions of emerging feedback interactions are becoming active across the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, land, and living systems. Many of these interactions are now being observed for the first time in human history. As individual feedbacks activate, strengthen, and interact with one another, they create new pathways for amplifying climate change and accelerating Earth-system change. There could well be billions of feedbacks. Now they are coupling… combining… amplifying each other… resulting in trillions of combinations.
MILLIONS → BILLIONS → TRILLIONS
FEEDBACK INTERACTIONS
FEEDBACK COUPLING IS EMERGING
We cannot yet predict how these interactions will propagate and amplify as they unfold. As it is unfolding in real time, just look out your window.
Feedback Loops → Tipping Points → Feedback Loop and Tipping-Point Network → Acceleration → Domino Effect
Feedback loops amplify climate change and can push interconnected Earth systems past critical tipping points. As tipping points are crossed, they can trigger additional feedback loops and destabilize other climate systems. This cascading “Domino Effect” compresses timescales, accelerates change, and increases the risk of rapid, nonlinear climate transformations.
From the album “Feedback Coupling“