{"id":45701,"date":"2025-08-01T12:09:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idea.membrane.com\/songwriter\/?p=45701"},"modified":"2025-08-01T12:09:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:09:43","slug":"earthworms-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/2025\/08\/01\/earthworms-emerge\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthworms Emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kingarthur.com\/MegaEpix-Enormous\/multimedia\/XV\/Earthworms-Emerge-Best-Of.mp3\">Earthworms-Emerge-Best-Of.mp3<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/kingarthur.com\/MegaEpix-Enormous\/multimedia\/XV\/Earthworms-Emerge-Best-Of.mp4\">Earthworms-Emerge-Best-Of.mp4<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/kingarthur.com\/MegaEpix-Enormous\/multimedia\/XV\/Earthworms-Emerge.mp3\">Earthworms-Emerge.mp3<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/kingarthur.com\/MegaEpix-Enormous\/multimedia\/XV\/Earthworms-Emerge.mp4\">Earthworms-Emerge.mp4<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/kingarthur.com\/MegaEpix-Enormous\/multimedia\/XV\/Earthworms-Emerge-intro.mp3\">Earthworms-Emerge-intro.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[Verse 1]<br \/>\nThe worms crawl in<br \/>\nThe worms crawl out<br \/>\nWhat&#8217;s happenin&#8217;<br \/>\nGonna find out<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nEarthworms emerge<br \/>\nUnder violent rain<br \/>\nThe harms of submerge<br \/>\nUnder oxygen strain<\/p>\n<p>[Bridge]<br \/>\nAir&#8217;s depletion<br \/>\n(Nears completion)<br \/>\nComing out from hiding<br \/>\n(Numbers subsiding)<\/p>\n<p>[Verse 2]<br \/>\nThe worms crawl out<br \/>\nCrawling all about<br \/>\nNo reburrowing<br \/>\nOnly scurrying<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nEarthworms emerge<br \/>\nUnder violent rain<br \/>\nThe harms of submerge<br \/>\nUnder oxygen strain<\/p>\n<p>[Bridge]<br \/>\nAir&#8217;s depletion<br \/>\n(Nears completion)<br \/>\nComing out from hiding<br \/>\n(Numbers subsiding)<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nEarthworms emerge<br \/>\nUnder violent rain<br \/>\nThe harms of submerge<br \/>\nUnder oxygen strain<\/p>\n<p>[Outro]<br \/>\nAir&#8217;s depletion<br \/>\n(Nears completion)<br \/>\nComing out from hiding<br \/>\n(Numbers subsiding)<\/p>\n<p>A SCIENCE NOTE<br \/>\nWhen heavy rains saturate the soil, earthworms often emerge to the surface. Here&#8217;s what happens and why many of them die in these events:<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"139\" data-end=\"167\">1. <strong data-start=\"146\" data-end=\"167\">Why They Come Out<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul data-start=\"168\" data-end=\"661\">\n<li data-start=\"168\" data-end=\"424\">\n<p data-start=\"170\" data-end=\"424\"><strong data-start=\"170\" data-end=\"191\">Oxygen Depletion:<\/strong> Earthworms breathe through their skin, which must stay moist to absorb oxygen. But during prolonged or intense rainfall, water fills the soil&#8217;s air spaces, reducing available oxygen. To avoid suffocation, worms head for the surface.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"425\" data-end=\"661\">\n<p data-start=\"427\" data-end=\"661\"><strong data-start=\"427\" data-end=\"464\">Mobility Opportunity (in theory):<\/strong> Some species may use wet conditions to migrate or mate more easily on the surface. Moisture allows them to travel further without drying out, though this benefit is outweighed during extreme rain.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 data-start=\"663\" data-end=\"686\">2. <strong data-start=\"670\" data-end=\"686\">Why Many Die<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul data-start=\"687\" data-end=\"1123\">\n<li data-start=\"687\" data-end=\"783\">\n<p data-start=\"689\" data-end=\"783\"><strong data-start=\"689\" data-end=\"715\">Exposure to Predators:<\/strong> On the surface, worms become easy prey for birds and other animals.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"784\" data-end=\"918\">\n<p data-start=\"786\" data-end=\"918\"><strong data-start=\"786\" data-end=\"811\">UV and Heat Exposure:<\/strong> If the rain is followed by sun, worms dry out quickly since they can&#8217;t stay moist in direct light or heat.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"919\" data-end=\"1008\">\n<p data-start=\"921\" data-end=\"1008\"><strong data-start=\"921\" data-end=\"937\">Floodwaters:<\/strong> In cases of standing water or flooding, many drown or are washed away.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1009\" data-end=\"1123\">\n<p data-start=\"1011\" data-end=\"1123\"><strong data-start=\"1011\" data-end=\"1029\">Lack of Cover:<\/strong> Urban areas and compacted soil give worms few options for reburrowing, leaving them stranded.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 data-start=\"1125\" data-end=\"1153\">3. <strong data-start=\"1132\" data-end=\"1153\">Ecological Impact<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul data-start=\"1154\" data-end=\"1556\">\n<li data-start=\"1154\" data-end=\"1356\">\n<p data-start=\"1156\" data-end=\"1356\"><strong data-start=\"1156\" data-end=\"1179\">Localized Die-Offs:<\/strong> Frequent die-offs during extreme weather reduce soil biodiversity and may impact soil health, since worms play a critical role in aeration, decomposition, and nutrient cycling.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1357\" data-end=\"1556\">\n<p data-start=\"1359\" data-end=\"1556\"><strong data-start=\"1359\" data-end=\"1385\">Climate Feedback Loop:<\/strong> As climate change drives more intense rain events, these mass worm deaths could become more common\u2014disrupting soil systems that help store carbon and support agriculture.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/membrane.com\/global_warming\/\">The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment<\/a><\/h2>\n<h3>From the album &#8220;<a href=\"\/songwriter\/tag\/wormhole\/\">Wormhole<\/a>&#8220;<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earthworms-Emerge-Best-Of.mp3 Earthworms-Emerge-Best-Of.mp4 Earthworms-Emerge.mp3 Earthworms-Emerge.mp4 Earthworms-Emerge-intro.mp3 [Verse 1] The worms crawl in The worms crawl out What&#8217;s happenin&#8217; Gonna find out [Chorus] Earthworms emerge Under violent rain The harms of submerge Under oxygen strain [Bridge] Air&#8217;s depletion (Nears completion) Coming out from hiding (Numbers subsiding) [Verse 2] The worms crawl out Crawling all about No reburrowing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,14],"tags":[163,4151],"class_list":["post-45701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4d-music","category-daniel","category-lyrics","tag-climate-change","tag-wormhole"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45701"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45719,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45701\/revisions\/45719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}