LYRICS
Put your ear to the girth of the Earth
Can you hear it coming?
Dominoes falling
Urgent calling
Hear the sound
Look around
Put your ear to the ground
Survival situations
Due to human complication
Here the sound
Is found
Can you see the vision
The impact and collision
Propagate mechanical waves
The primate saves!
Put your ear to the girth of the Earth
Can you hear it coming?
Dominoes falling
Urgent calling
Put your ear to the ground
Dominoes are falling down
As humans rearrange
Bringing on the climate change
Dominoes are falling down
One knows Mother Nature frowns
Dominoes are falling down
The temperature is going up
Dominoes are falling down
Hope we have a backup?
- The-Sound-of-Falling-Dominoes-Part-I.mp3 (unplugged to save energy)
- The-Sound-of-Falling-Dominoes-Part-II.mp3
- The-Sound-of-Falling-Dominoes-Part-II-Instrumental.mp3
Chords: E/7 A G E / D D# E / E C E / D C E / D C D C / C B7 E / C D E / E C E / C D E / E G E; Part II @ 144 Beats Per Minute
Instrumentation: Vocals (TC-Helicon VOICELIVE and MiniNova Vocorder), Ibanez Acoustic Guitar (AW54CE), Ibanez Electric RG-270 (Boss Digital Delay), Fender Jazz Bass (Boss Digital Delay), Keyboards (Korg PS60, Casio WK-3500, Yamaha PSR-740, MiniNova, MicroKorg)
ABOUT THE SONG
This song is about the both literal toppling dominoes and figuratively falling dominoes, as well as the sound earth shaking observations. “Putting one’s ear to the ground is a phrase often used to describe someone who is listening carefully, attentively, or trying to gather information (demonstrating principles related to the propagation of mechanical waves.) The origin of this expression is rooted in Native American tracking skills and has been associated with the ability to detect subtle vibrations or sounds in the ground. It is often used in tracking or survival situations.
LITERAL FALLING DOMINOES
The physics of falling dominoes involves principles related to mechanics, specifically dynamics and energy conservation. When a row of dominoes is set up and the first one is pushed, a chain reaction of falling dominoes is initiated. Here are some key physics concepts at play:
- Potential and Kinetic Energy:
- Potential Energy: Each standing domino possesses potential energy due to its elevated position. The higher a domino, the more potential energy it has.
- Kinetic Energy: As the first domino falls, it converts its potential energy into kinetic energy—the energy of motion.
- Conservation of Energy:
- The total energy in the system is conserved. As each domino falls, it transfers its potential energy to the next one in the chain, maintaining the overall energy of the system.
- Momentum:
- As dominoes fall, they transfer momentum to the next domino in line. Momentum is the product of an object’s mass and its velocity. The conservation of momentum ensures that the dominoes keep falling in sequence.
- Angular Momentum:
- When a domino starts to fall, it may also rotate slightly due to the asymmetry of its shape. This introduces angular momentum into the system.
- Friction:
- Friction between the dominoes and the surface on which they are placed plays a role in controlling the rate at which they fall. If the surface is too slippery, the dominoes may slide instead of topple.
- Collision Physics:
- The collision between falling and standing dominoes involves principles of collision physics, including the conservation of linear and angular momentum.
- Elasticity:
- The dominoes themselves have a certain elasticity. When one domino collides with another, it compresses slightly and then rebounds, transferring energy to the next domino.
- Inertia:
- The tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion (including changes in speed or direction) is described by inertia. Each domino’s inertia is overcome as it falls, initiating the chain reaction.
- Sound:
- The falling dominoes generate sound waves due to the impact and collision between them, demonstrating principles related to the propagation of mechanical waves.
The physics of falling dominoes is a dynamic interplay of various mechanical principles. Setting up and toppling dominoes is not only entertaining but also provides a hands-on way to observe and understand fundamental concepts in physics.
FIGURATIVE FALLING DOMINOES
Tipping points are Critical Milestones that directly impact the rate of acceleration in climate change by multiplying the number and intensity of feedback loops.
Identifying and understanding these tipping points is crucial for climate science and policymaking. Crossing multiple tipping points could lead to a domino effect, resulting in a much more rapid and severe climate change than currently projected.
Push a glass toward the edge of a table and eventually it will fall off on its own. No matter how slowly or meticulously you push… no matter how you weight or fill the glass, it will reach a tipping point and fall off before being pushed completely off the table. No matter whether you believe the glass is half-empty or half-full, when the tipping point is reached it will plummet out-of-control to its end. This is science not fate, faith, nor belief. Human induced climate change has resulted in environmental tipping points being breached.
Tipping points, when crossed, trigger self-sustaining feedback loops that are no longer dependent on human activity. Similar to when a domino topples over hitting two more dominoes that in turn fall hitting more dominoes. Thus, the name The Domino Effect. It can also be visualized as The Snowball Effect. A tipping point is like a snowball rolling down a hill growing in mass and velocity (momentum). When a tipping point is crossed, it results in cumulative and reinforced global warming.
Tipping cascades have emerged between biogeophysical and social-ecological systems. This Domino Effect is causing climate change to accelerate at an exponential rate.
The carbon sequestration from dissolved organic carbon is only one of the many carbon sinks in the Amazon. It is likely Amazon droughts will become more frequent and intense resulting in decarbonization at an exponential rate. The collapse of the AMOC will hasten the collapse of the Amazon. The collapse of the Amazon will hasten the collapse of the AMOC.
Feedback loops and tipping points are parts of an equation that determine the rate of acceleration in climate change. Triggering these tipping points results in the CO2 stored in nature to be released without the assistance of humans. Though we do not know how much carbon is stored in nature, it would be reasonable to assume that the temperature could be pushed from 3 degrees to 6 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Humans cannot thrive above a rise of 1.5 degrees. Much of the Earth will be uninhabitable if the temperature rises an additional 6 degrees Celsius. If humans also add 3 degrees Celsius, the temperature and humidity will approach a wet-bulb temperature that will not sustain human life.
For the first time in human history, global warming is going to continue no matter what humans do. Even if humans stopped their greenhouse gas emissions today, humans have invoked nature’s greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, the sooner humans stop their emissions, the better. In addition, humans must adapt their habitat to remove, reduce, and hinder nature’s greenhouse gas emissions.
What Can I Do?
There are plenty of things you can do to help save the planet. Stop using fossil fuels. Consume less. Here is a list of additional actions you can take.
— from Toppled Tipping Points: The Domino Effect Brouse and Mukherjee (2023)
This music was written and recorded extemporaneously. Extemporaneous, spontaneous, improvisation, jamming, freestyle, and impromptu music are most closely related to pure chaos. The music and lyrics evolve from the “sensitive initial conditions” similar to “a butterfly flapping its wings in China causing a hurricane in the Atlantic.”