{"id":54034,"date":"2026-06-13T14:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T14:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/?p=54034"},"modified":"2026-06-13T14:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T14:03:20","slug":"oh-dear-the-cryosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/2026\/06\/13\/oh-dear-the-cryosphere\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh, Dear! The Cryosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Silence]
\n[Arrangement: Cold atmospheric synths, piano, driving bass, electric guitar, organ swells, steady drums building throughout]<\/p>\n

[Intro]
\nIs the climate
\n(On a runaway train?)
\nIs the climate
\n(Coming off the chain?)<\/p>\n

Something’s changing
\n(We can all see)
\nFrom the mountain tops
\n(To the frozen sea)<\/p>\n

[Instrumental]
\n[Piano Arpeggios, Wind Effects, Distant Guitar]<\/p>\n

[Verse 1]
\nBack in ninety-five
\n(The signs were there)
\nA warming world
\n(Changing the air)<\/p>\n

Some thought the future
\n(Would move in a line)
\nSlow and steady
\n(Plenty of time)<\/p>\n

But Greenland whispered
\n(A different song)
\nThe measurements kept saying
\n(Something was wrong)<\/p>\n

[Pre-Chorus]
\nA little faster
\n(Than before)
\nA little less ice
\n(On every shore)<\/p>\n

[Chorus]
\nOh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nBeing cold, cold, cold
\n(Is getting old, old, old)<\/p>\n

Oh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nMelting away
\n(Year after year)<\/p>\n

[Refrain]
\nIce to water
\n(Water to sea)
\nSea to shoreline
\n(Where will it be?)<\/p>\n

Ice to water
\n(Faster each year)
\nOh, dear…
\n(The cryosphere)<\/p>\n

[Verse 2]
\nAncient glaciers
\n(Begin to slide)
\nHolding less firmly
\n(With every tide)<\/p>\n

Grounding lines retreat
\n(Further inland)
\nA giant awakening
\n(Across the land)<\/p>\n

Millions of years
\n(To build that ice)
\nA few short decades
\n(To pay the price)<\/p>\n

[Instrumental]
\n[Guitar Solo]
\n[Organ Swells]
\n[Driving Bass]<\/p>\n

[Pre-Chorus]
\nThe system shifts
\n(Out of phase)
\nPast the limits
\n(Of old ways)<\/p>\n

[Chorus]
\nOh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nBeing cold, cold, cold
\n(Is getting old, old, old)<\/p>\n

Oh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nDisappearing slow
\n(Then all at once)<\/p>\n

[Bridge]
\nCan we slow it?
\n(Perhaps we can)<\/p>\n

Can we stop it?
\n(That’s the plan)<\/p>\n

But some thresholds
\n(Once they’re crossed)<\/p>\n

Leave us counting
\n(What was lost)<\/p>\n

No stable coastline
\n(For centuries)<\/p>\n

Redrawing maps
\n(Of every sea)<\/p>\n

[Arrangement: Piano drops out, bass and drums drive forward]<\/p>\n

[Refrain]
\nIce to water
\n(Water to sea)<\/p>\n

Sea to shoreline
\n(Where will it be?)<\/p>\n

Ice to water
\n(Faster each year)<\/p>\n

Oh, dear…
\n(The cryosphere)<\/p>\n

[Final Chorus]
\nOh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nBeing cold, cold, cold
\n(Is getting old, old, old)<\/p>\n

Oh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nThe future’s here
\n(Loud and clear)<\/p>\n

Oh, Dear!
\n(The cryosphere)
\nHow much longer
\n(Before the next frontier?)<\/p>\n

[Outro]
\nIs the climate
\n(On a runaway train?)
\nIs the climate
\n(Coming off the chain?)
\nSix million years
\n(Beneath our feet)
\nGone forever
\n(With the heat)<\/p>\n

Oh, dear…
\n(The cryosphere)<\/p>\n

Oh, dear…
\n(The cryosphere)<\/p>\n

\n
\n \"Is
\n <\/a>
\n
\n Cryosphere Tipping Points and Ice Sheet Collapse
\n <\/a>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About the Song: Cryosphere Tipping Points and Ice Sheet Collapse
\nIn 1995, I was convinced climate change was happening at an exponential rate; however, Sidd argued we needed more data over a longer time period. At the time, the dominant assumption was that global warming was largely linear and slow\u2014offering centuries to respond.<\/p>\n

By 2004, enough observational data had accumulated to confirm accelerating nonlinear behavior in the cryosphere and ocean systems. Greenland ice sheet dynamics, in particular, were no longer consistent with equilibrium assumptions.<\/p>\n

Much of climate change can potentially be mitigated or slowed. Ice sheet collapse, however, is largely irreversible on human timescales once critical thresholds are crossed.<\/p>\n

“And once we have destabilized these ice sheets, there will be no stable coastline for centuries.”<\/p>\n

From the album “Unwritten<\/a>“<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Silence] [Arrangement: Cold atmospheric synths, piano, driving bass, electric guitar, organ swells, steady drums building throughout] [Intro] Is the climate (On a runaway train?) Is the climate (Coming off the chain?) Something’s changing (We can all see) From the mountain tops (To the frozen sea) [Instrumental] [Piano Arpeggios, Wind Effects, Distant Guitar] [Verse 1] Back […]<\/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],"tags":[163],"class_list":["post-54034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4d-music","tag-climate-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54034","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=54034"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54037,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54034\/revisions\/54037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}