[Intro]
Seek beneath…
(Where the roots run deep)
Something’s burning…
(While the world is sleeping)
No flames in sight
(No smoke in the air)
But the ground is alive
(And the fire’s still there)
[Verse 1]
Summer fires raging
Across the Arctic land
Winter comes and covers
What the flames have left demand
Underneath the frozen blanket
Smoldering out of view
An underground survivor
With a fire burning through
Waiting for the thaw
To bring it back around
A ghost from the season
Still burning underground
[Refrain]
What the heck?
(It’s a zombie network)
They come back to life
(Coupling with our strife)
Or don’t you know…
(There’s a fire down below)
Nooo, I’m not a liar
(There’s a fire)
… down below
(And the situation’s dire)
Fire! Fire! Fire!
(Fire! Fire! Fire!)
[Verse 2]
Burning through the peatlands
Where ancient carbon sleeps
Releasing stored emissions
From the frozen Arctic deep
Black carbon on the snow
Turns the white to gray
Less reflection, more absorption
More heat along the way
Permafrost is weakening
As the insulating layers burn
The carbon once protected
Has another way to return
Methane, CO₂
Rising from the ground
One more feedback pathway
As the warming comes around
[Refrain]
What the heck?
(It’s a zombie network)
They come back to life
(Coupling with our strife)
Or don’t you know…
(There’s a fire down below)
Nooo, I’m not a liar
(There’s a fire)
… down below
(And the situation’s dire)
Fire! Fire! Fire!
(Fire! Fire! Fire!)
[Bridge]
Burning in the winter
(Burning in the spring)
Summer’s long departed
(Still the embers cling)
Underneath the surface
(Out of human sight)
Old carbon reservoirs
(Feeding flames at night)
Wildfire!
(Underground fire!)
Carbon!
(Climbing higher!)
Black snow!
(Absorbing heat!)
Permafrost!
(Under defeat!)
One disturbance!
(Many reactions!)
One ignition!
(Feedback interactions!)
[Breakdown]
You thought it was over…
(But it never died)
You thought it was sleeping…
(It’s burning inside)
You thought winter stopped it…
(Just look below)
The fire keeps moving…
(Where the roots used to grow)
[Verse 3]
This is more than a wildfire
That refuses to retire
It’s a changing climate system
With a network built on fire
Carbon cycle turning
Albedo losing ground
Permafrost degrading
As the feedbacks circle round
From the soil to the atmosphere
From the snow into the sky
Each connection adds another
Reason temperatures climb
[Final Refrain]
What the heck?
(It’s a zombie network)
They come back to life
(Coupling with our strife)
Or don’t you know…
(There’s a fire down below)
Nooo, I’m not a liar
(There’s a fire)
… down below
(And the situation’s dire)
Fire! Fire! Fire!
(Fire! Fire! Fire!)
What the heck?
(It’s a zombie network)
Burning through the night
(Out of human sight)
Or don’t you know…
(There’s a fire down below)
Nooo, I’m not a liar
(There’s a fire)
… down below
(And the situation’s dire)
Fire! Fire! Fire!
(Fire! Fire! Fire!)
[Outro]
Can’t you see the zombie!
(No, not zombie free)
Zombie
(Comin’ after me)
Zombie
The fire didn’t die.
(It’ll come back… high!)
About the Song
Emerging Climate Feedback Coupling: Zombie Fires and the Arctic Feedback Network
The emerging climate feedback network is becoming increasingly interconnected. Atmospheric circulation, soil moisture, and temperature are no longer simply responding to one another. Under extreme conditions, they become mutually reinforcing drivers of increasingly severe climate extremes.
Wildfires don’t always end when the flames disappear. In Arctic and boreal regions, fires can continue smoldering underground through the winter, hidden beneath snow and ice, only to reemerge in spring.
These zombie fires connect multiple climate feedback mechanisms:
🔥 Underground combustion releases stored carbon, including CO₂ and CH₄.
🌫️ Black carbon deposition darkens snow and ice, reducing reflectivity and accelerating melting.
🧊 Permafrost degradation exposes ancient organic carbon to decomposition.
💨 Methane-producing wetlands develop in suitable waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions, adding another source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The result is an interconnected feedback network: warming and drought promote wildfire; underground combustion, carbon release, albedo reduction, and permafrost thaw intensify warming; and those changes increase the conditions favoring future fires.
The fire never went out. The feedbacks keep burning.
#ZombieFires #ClimateFeedbacks #ArcticWarming #Permafrost #Methane #ClimateScience #ClimateChange
Emerging Climate Feedback Coupling: Zombie Fires and the Arctic Feedback Network
From the album “Feedback Coupling“