from the remember-Michael-Fish-the-UK-meteorologist? dept.
No Yellowstone mega-eruption coming, experts say:
Yellowstone National Park are fighting viral rumors of an impending, cataclysmic eruption of a mega volcano slumbering at the US Western preserve known for its geothermal features. Volcanologists said reams of geological data have given them a deep of understanding of the Yellowstone Caldera - and all signs point to calm. Over the past several weeks, the Internet has been abuzz with speculation over worrying signs suggesting an explosive awakening for the so-called super-volcano, whose last catastrophic eruption was 640,000 years ago. That eruption covered a good portion of North America in ash several inches thick, and had a long-lasting impact on the Earth's climate. A video showing a herd of bison fleeing the iconic Wyoming park went viral. And several days later, a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in three decades, fed the rumor mill still further.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 28 2014, @10:36PM
We're just guessing.
Kind of irrevelant anyway.
If nothing happens. We're fine.
If it just somewhat erupts. We're fine.
If it does go *pop* we are so beyond screwed there's nothing we could do about it. So don't worry about it and we're fine.
I'd love to have that job. Nothing i say or do really matters at all. And if i totally completely fail at my job. Nobody who knows is alive within hundreds of miles.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Nobuddy on Tuesday April 29 2014, @12:54AM
Actually, most life on Earth is dead. A few thousand miles die instantly, the rest dies in a few months from ash and nuclear winter.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday April 28 2014, @10:55PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Monday April 28 2014, @10:57PM
*packs the marshmallows and the crackers, pouts*
Anybody wants to buy a family-sized tent made from fireman-shelter foil?
(Score: 2) by snick on Monday April 28 2014, @11:14PM
If they got something wrong, or if something unexpected just happens, by making this declaration they could be held responsible for fatalities [sciencemag.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Tuesday April 29 2014, @12:02AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 29 2014, @12:33AM
Well, if a mega-eruption on the scale of what happened 640,000 years ago actually does take place, what then? In what way can you prepare for or prevent a catastrophe of that magnitude? At least if it were an asteroid we could conceivably point the world's nuclear arsenal at the space rock (not that it will do much good), but for a volcanic eruption like that? There will be nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. There is no way you can evacuate the entire population of the western hemisphere, and even if you could, the effects are global. I'd much rather be sitting right at the caldera's mouth if it does happen. At least then the last thing I'd see would be something magnificent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 29 2014, @01:44AM
"I'd much rather be sitting right at the caldera's mouth if it does happen. At least then the last thing I'd see would be something magnificent."
Wasn't that a scene from the 2012 movie? In all seriousness, I'm more concerned about a Yellowstone super eruption than I am an asteroid - an asteroid can theoretically be deflected, but what do you do when nature's pressure cooker has been capped just a few centuries too long?
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday April 29 2014, @02:13AM
How often do volcanoes erupt, tho? more to the point, how often do long-dormant volcanoes erupt? Maybe enough pressure bled off already.
As to the video of "bison running from Yellowstone Park" -- it was just a small herd loping down the road, which bison do regularly (actually it looked like stragglers hurrying to catch up) ... when a herd moves to a fresh pasture, they often do so at a good clip, they don't just amble.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday April 29 2014, @03:56AM
Yellowstone isn't long dormant. The entire region is highly active and theoretically could go off in the proverbial any minute. We don't really know enough about hot spot geology to make a precise determination. It probably is not going to erupt soon, and probably not even in my remaining lifetime, but on a geological time scale it will probably erupt soon.
We also have the Long Valley/Mammoth Mountain area to worry about, although that is again, probably less likely to blow again soon enough for any of us to see it.
Humanity will probably bring some great catastrophe upon itself before an eruption does so.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday April 29 2014, @04:44AM
I shorthanded "hasn't erupted in a big way lately" as "dormant". Yeah, as the crust goes, Yellowstone seethes. I live about 100 miles away. :)
What was that about the Oregon dome being a much larger risk? I seem to recall something about that, that it had actually swelled more than expected.
But, yeah, even if it goes off 'tomorrow' geologically speaking, not likely to be within our lifetimes, and maybe not civilization's lifetime.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by umafuckitt on Tuesday April 29 2014, @02:20AM
"Theoretically" being the key word. In practice, we ain't likely to be deflecting any asteroids. It would be very hard to do even if we have years of advance warning. However we may well only have a few weeks. The end result of a big asteroid impact will be more or less the same as a super-volcano going nova on us.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Tuesday April 29 2014, @02:53AM
thats actually a good argument for why we should be working on ways to remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere (aka, "fighting [the cause of] global warming"). while finding ways to actively sequester large amounts CO2 from the atmosphere, we're likely to figure out ways to actively sequester large amounts of other things from the atmosphere, like ash, hydrogen sulfide, etc.
the middle of the north american continent will undoubtedly be fucked if yellowstone erupts, but the whole world doesnt necessarily have to be doomed as well.
oh, and nuking an asteroid is the worst thing we could do. gravity tractors [wikipedia.org] are the best solution for those.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday April 29 2014, @01:23PM
"the effects are global"
means scientific analysis can detect a statistically numerically significant variation on the entire globe. Does not mean there is absolutely no difference in intensity as distance from the center varies.
Think of a hurricane, yes if it passes directly overhead your property is pretty much screwed. However a hundred or so miles away a bit of proper design and preparedness is the difference between being completely wiped out and merely an interesting story.
All of South Dakota, pretty much screwed. Washington State, other than obvious economic/political impact, no big deal.
(Score: 1) by jelizondo on Tuesday April 29 2014, @04:15AM
It does remind me of a movie [imdb.com], not a very good one, but still, it does point out how little we know.
Right, we seen so many eruptions that we know, for sure, the conditions upon which one happens.
It will happen, but I wish for it to happen far, far into the future. I would not want even my great-grandchildren to see it... that is, if I get any grandchildren.
(Score: 3, Funny) by mendax on Tuesday April 29 2014, @06:09AM
... then what's that rumbling I feel? I hope it's only some gas in my belly. Or perhaps it's my evil cat purring.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.