Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Hold It In, Yellowstone...!

We all know that if Yellowstone ever blows it's top, we are in deep trouble! Luckily, it may be a while!

This study I found over at KnowledgeNuts tells the story much better than I can! Interesting stuff!


Yellowstone National Park Is Not Bringing The Apocalypse
By Dustin Koski on Monday, August 25, 2014

Many mainstream publications recently posited that Yellowstone National Park, which is effectively situated on top of a supervolcano, might soon erupt in a manner which would destroy America and civilization as we know it. The story was widely covered (because fear is easy to sell), but the real story hasn’t received the same coverage. Analysis of the seismic activity around the area indicates that there will not be any supervolcanic eruptions for hundreds of millennia.

If you’re a doomsayer, Yellowstone National Park was a perfect potential cause for the apocalypse. There was the irony that a place considered such an American touchstone would cover America in dozens of feet of ash and the irony that such a tranquil place (geysers aside) would bring about so much destruction. There was also what seemed to be an unusual degree of scientific credibility to it as far as doomsday scenarios go.

Every 600,000 years, the Yellowstone National Park caldera had a super eruption. These eruptions were extraordinarily huge: They ranged in size from 1,000 to 6,000 times the size of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption. The Yellowstone super eruptions generated so much ash that Denver, Colorado would be buried in several feet of it, with piles of the stuff drifting to an estimated 19 states. Due to being superheated, this ash would not merely pile up but has been shown to actually fuse together. So it would not only asphyxiate countless people, make travel over a vast region impossible, and disrupt the climate, but it would essentially put a layer of asphalt over 19 states of the US. Crops would be destroyed, and great tracts of land would be unusable for farming for generations. The last time something like this happened was 630,000 years ago, supposedly indicating that if anything, another one is overdue.

At worst, however, that won’t happen for a period of time longer than human civilization has existed. At best, it won’t happen at all. The National Park Service, US Geological Survey, and National Science Foundation are all in agreement that there is not evidence that an eruption is imminent.

The cycle of eruptions based on past supervolcanic activity indicates that Yellowstone is actually becoming less seismically active over time. The National Park Service states that at most there will be increased lava flow activity in the near future, which would be a manageable threat—even people in Yellowstone could be safely evacuated. The Geological Survey states that it will be at least one million years before such an eruption would be likely, possibly as many as two million.

Of course, some will offer that it’s possible that the people monitoring the seismic activity around Yellowstone Park are horribly wrong. After all, the aforementioned Mt. St. Helens eruption caught experts by surprise. But if it turns out Yellowstone ever does erupt, presumably the embarrassment will be the least of our concerns.

Now, I'm glad to have the views of all the experts on this situation, believe me! I only hope for all our sake that they are right!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

6 comments:

Chickenmom said...

Whew! That's good news! Maybe now I don't have to rush over there to see it. Make lots of coffee - I'll bring the Dunkin's.

Sixbears said...

I'd already decided not to worry about it because there was nothing I could do about it.

Waiting for the fog to burn off. Second coffee will be in the sun.

linda m said...

Whew! And here I thought I had better start preparing to meet my maker. Didn't sleep well last night so extra coffee for me please. Thanks for taking a load off my mind about Yellowstone exploding.

Mamahen said...

Hope they experts are right on this one....see everyone one the patio....save me a seat n a dunkuns :))

JO said...

Interesting facts and well worth this post.

We never did get rain yesterday but heavy clouds and high humidity, looks more of that today. So your patio may be more comfortable.

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
Let's just hope their timeline is correct!

Thanks for coming over today!



Hey Sixbears...
Probably the best course of action!

Thanks for the visit!



Hey Linda M...
Never can have too much coffee, I think!

Glad you liked the post and that you could come over today!



Hey Mamahen...
I'm sure hoping they are right.

Thanks for coming over today!



Hey Jo...
Looks like we may get a little rain from the storm coming in from the south of us. Sure could use it!

Thanks for dropping in, sweetie!