Drip Drop! - Lyrics

Here are some questions to think about:

How can there be both more floods and more drought – sometimes in the same place?
What’s happening in the oceans?
Why is climate a hot-button topic?
What kinds of solutions are people talking about?

For information and inspiration, check out the Learn More page

Lyrics	Science Explanation
Part 1 So hot in the atmosphere Melting H2O I’m hot He’s hot Too hot Drip Drop (Drop) Climbing out of control	Climate is warming. The global average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere warmed 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit in the 20^th Century. That rise in temperature is a global average, which means that all the temperatures from locations worldwide and through all seasons are averaged together. Scientists project more than double that amount of warming during the 21^st Century.
Part 2 I was like “Good gracious! What’s up with the glaciers?” When I went away On my summer vacay See my Aunt Arctica Same time each year But I kind of freaked out When some snow disappeared Ice rivers flowing Permafrost un-frozen Glacial erosion Miles are going Dumping and sinking Right into the sea Calving off in huge chunks The size of NYC Ice-scrapers break off And turn into bergs Tons of freshwater run off Only making it worse	In general, glaciers are disappearing due to warming temperatures. Almost all mountain glaciers around the world are shrinking. In the northern hemisphere, the ice sheet on Greenland is melting. In the southern hemisphere, the West Antarctic ice sheet is melting too. On the other side of Antarctica, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is increasing in size because of more snowfall. There is variation throughout the year: glaciers and ice sheets grow in size during the winter when temperatures are cold and snow is common and then shrink in summer when temperatures are warmer.
Part 3 Sea levels go up Salt water slows up High tides’ll show up Coral don’t hold up When the water’s brackish It’s bad for the fish The ocean’s feverish I’m not cool with this The seven seas are rising twice as fast As ever been recorded in decades past Forecast soaked shores all along the coast Who knows what’s in store when the waves encroach?	There are two reasons that sea level is rising and both are because climate is warming. First, there is more water in the ocean as glacial melt water makes its way to the seas. Second, warming ocean water takes up more space because the water molecules move further apart, causing the water to expand, which also makes sea level rise. Rising sea level is a problem for coastal communities, especially when the sea level rises temporarily during storms (called storm surge) and during unusually high tide events (like king tides). Warmer ocean water is harmful to corals and other marine life that require very specific environmental conditions. During the 20^th Century sea level rose 8 inches. The rate of sea level rise is speeding up and scientists predict sea level will rise between 1 and 7 feet during this century, depending on how much climate change occurs.
Part 4 And on another subject, Arctic ice Is Earth’s home-grown natural cooling device It’s melting too, which ain’t good news When all that chillin’ white’s got the blues Sea ice is nice for reflectivity Bouncing back the sun’s blazing energy The albedo is perfect A frozen flat surface Rocket ricochet Bye bye solar rays X ray, gamma ray Infrared, ultra violet Caliente CO₂ Traps and amplifies it This positive feedback Ain’t so positive Melted ice turns dark No longer reflective It heats up hotter Melting even more Beware! There’s a polar bear Knocking on your door	The ice that covers much of the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole is called sea ice and is made of frozen seawater. Every winter the amount of ice increases as cold temperatures allow more seawater to freeze. Then, during summer, some of the sea ice melts. Over the past several decades, more ice has melted during the summer than has formed during the winter. This means that there is less ice in the Arctic Ocean than there used to be. Because ice is white, it reflects most of the incoming solar energy out to space. The dark ocean surface that is exposed when the ice melts absorbs solar energy, which causes more warming in the Arctic, which melts more ice. This vicious cycle (called a “positive feedback”) is responsible for speeding up warming. Polar bears and other Arctic life are affected by the loss of sea ice. The bears use sea ice platforms when they are hunting for fish and seals in the ocean.
Part 5 Evaporate Precipitate Circulate Vapor Can’t escape the atmos Where does it go? Heads back into the hydro Stop, drop & roll The higher the temp The more the steam Buckets dump from the clouds Torrential stream Stormy weather It’s like a bad dream Get it together Climate on caffeine When it rains it pours And floods the floors The deluge don't seep Or absorb too deep Cause the ground’s dried out Subterranean drought Plants can’t go without I wanna scream and shout	The water cycle is speeding up due to climate change. With warmer temperatures, there is more evaporation of water into the air (turning from a liquid to a gas). More evaporation can cause dry areas to become drier. Long term drier-than-normal conditions are called drought, which is a problem for farmers, ecosystems, and anyone who relies on water. More evaporation of water into the air can cause more clouds to form. Those clouds cause intense storms (precipitation), which can cause flooding. Looking into the future, scientists project that some areas will have a higher chance of drought and other areas will be subject to extreme rainstorms.
Part 6 True, the climate’s changed naturally throughout time But it’s human fingerprints at the scene of this crime We’re breaking records. We’re getting hotter.   Gotta act now. Gotta save our water.	While saving water is a good idea and works with the rhyme in this song, the most important take away from the video is the importance of humans reducing CO₂ emissions.

Lyrics

Science Explanation

Part 1

So hot in the atmosphere

Melting H2O

I’m hot

He’s hot

Too hot

Drip Drop (Drop)

Climbing out of control

Climate is warming. The global average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere warmed 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit in the 20^th Century. That rise in temperature is a global average, which means that all the temperatures from locations worldwide and through all seasons are averaged together. Scientists project more than double that amount of warming during the 21^st Century.

Part 2

I was like “Good gracious!

What’s up with the glaciers?”

When I went away

On my summer vacay

See my Aunt Arctica

Same time each year

But I kind of freaked out

When some snow disappeared

Ice rivers flowing

Permafrost un-frozen

Glacial erosion

Miles are going

Dumping and sinking

Right into the sea

Calving off in huge chunks

The size of NYC

Ice-scrapers break off

And turn into bergs

Tons of freshwater run off

Only making it worse

In general, glaciers are disappearing due to warming temperatures. Almost all mountain glaciers around the world are shrinking. In the northern hemisphere, the ice sheet on Greenland is melting. In the southern hemisphere, the West Antarctic ice sheet is melting too. On the other side of Antarctica, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is increasing in size because of more snowfall.

There is variation throughout the year: glaciers and ice sheets grow in size during the winter when temperatures are cold and snow is common and then shrink in summer when temperatures are warmer.

Part 3

Sea levels go up

Salt water slows up

High tides’ll show up

Coral don’t hold up

When the water’s brackish

It’s bad for the fish

The ocean’s feverish

I’m not cool with this

The seven seas are rising twice as fast

As ever been recorded in decades past

Forecast soaked shores all along the coast

Who knows what’s in store when the waves encroach?

There are two reasons that sea level is rising and both are because climate is warming. First, there is more water in the ocean as glacial melt water makes its way to the seas. Second, warming ocean water takes up more space because the water molecules move further apart, causing the water to expand, which also makes sea level rise.

Rising sea level is a problem for coastal communities, especially when the sea level rises temporarily during storms (called storm surge) and during unusually high tide events (like king tides).

Warmer ocean water is harmful to corals and other marine life that require very specific environmental conditions.

During the 20^th Century sea level rose 8 inches. The rate of sea level rise is speeding up and scientists predict sea level will rise between 1 and 7 feet during this century, depending on how much climate change occurs.

Part 4

And on another subject, Arctic ice

Is Earth’s home-grown natural cooling device

It’s melting too, which ain’t good news

When all that chillin’ white’s got the blues

Sea ice is nice for reflectivity

Bouncing back the sun’s blazing energy

The albedo is perfect

A frozen flat surface

Rocket ricochet

Bye bye solar rays

X ray, gamma ray Infrared, ultra violet

Caliente CO₂

Traps and amplifies it

This positive feedback

Ain’t so positive

Melted ice turns dark

No longer reflective

It heats up hotter

Melting even more

Beware!

There’s a polar bear

Knocking on your door

The ice that covers much of the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole is called sea ice and is made of frozen seawater. Every winter the amount of ice increases as cold temperatures allow more seawater to freeze. Then, during summer, some of the sea ice melts. Over the past several decades, more ice has melted during the summer than has formed during the winter. This means that there is less ice in the Arctic Ocean than there used to be.

Because ice is white, it reflects most of the incoming solar energy out to space. The dark ocean surface that is exposed when the ice melts absorbs solar energy, which causes more warming in the Arctic, which melts more ice. This vicious cycle (called a “positive feedback”) is responsible for speeding up warming.

Polar bears and other Arctic life are affected by the loss of sea ice. The bears use sea ice platforms when they are hunting for fish and seals in the ocean.

Part 5

Evaporate Precipitate Circulate Vapor

Can’t escape the atmos

Where does it go?

Heads back into the hydro

Stop, drop & roll

The higher the temp

The more the steam

Buckets dump from the clouds

Torrential stream

Stormy weather

It’s like a bad dream

Get it together

Climate on caffeine

When it rains it pours

And floods the floors

The deluge don't seep

Or absorb too deep

Cause the ground’s dried out

Subterranean drought

Plants can’t go without

I wanna scream and shout

The water cycle is speeding up due to climate change. With warmer temperatures, there is more evaporation of water into the air (turning from a liquid to a gas). More evaporation can cause dry areas to become drier. Long term drier-than-normal conditions are called drought, which is a problem for farmers, ecosystems, and anyone who relies on water.

More evaporation of water into the air can cause more clouds to form. Those clouds cause intense storms (precipitation), which can cause flooding.

Looking into the future, scientists project that some areas will have a higher chance of drought and other areas will be subject to extreme rainstorms.

Part 6

True, the climate’s changed naturally throughout time

But it’s human fingerprints at the scene of this crime

We’re breaking records.

We’re getting hotter.  

Gotta act now.

Gotta save our water.

While saving water is a good idea and works with the rhyme in this song, the most important take away from the video is the importance of humans reducing CO₂ emissions.

Center for Science Education

Drip Drop! - Lyrics

NCAR

UCAR