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Yellowstone supervolcano is even bigger than we thought

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Branduil

Member
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regi...cle_d94b8b05-21a0-5956-a36d-3cbcab3cae60.html

HELENA, Mont. — The hot molten rock beneath Yellowstone National Park is 2 ½ times larger than previously estimated, meaning the park's supervolcano has the potential to erupt with a force about 2,000 times the size of Mount St. Helens, according to a new study.

By measuring seismic waves from earthquakes, scientists were able to map the magma chamber underneath the Yellowstone caldera as 55 miles long, lead author Jamie Farrell of the University of Utah said Monday.

The chamber is 18 miles wide and runs at depths from 3 to 9 miles below the earth, he added.

The largest blast — the volcano's first — was 2,000 times the size of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. A similar one would spew large amounts of volcanic material in the atmosphere, where it would circle the earth, he said.

"It would be a global event," Farrell said. "There would be a lot of destruction and a lot of impacts around the globe."

The last Yellowstone eruption happened 640,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. For years, observers tracking earthquake swarms under Yellowstone have warned the caldera is overdue to erupt.

Farrell dismissed that notion, saying there isn't enough data to estimate the timing of the next eruption.

Throw in Old Faithful if old.
 

Majine

Banned
It blows my mind that such beasts exist, and that they can cause global concequences.

Mother nature aint fucking around.
 

Grym

Member
eh...it won't affect much...

Yellowstone_SuperVolcano.jpg
 

xk0sm0sx

Member
Used to be scared about these things, but decided that potentially life-ending events are better to be just ignored and treat it as it won't happen. You can't do shit about it anyway.
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
fingers crossed the higgs field undergoes a vacuum metastability event before this kills us all!
 

slit

Member
WE'RE DOOMED, WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!

.....and don't you be thinking if you don't live in North America you're safe, WE ALL GO DOWN.
 

Air

Banned
Another reason why NYC is superior (though if this thing erupts we'll be blotted out with all that ash)
 
eh...it won't affect much...

Yellowstone_SuperVolcano.jpg
The blast would affect the whole world though by messing up weather patterns, possibly causing food shortage because it would block out the sun. Worldwide we only have a surplus o food that can last 60 days, imagine a summer without crops.

Krakatoa that exploded in the 1880's caused the "year without a summer" in England.
 

Grym

Member
The blast would affect the whole world though by messing up weather patterns, possibly causing food shortage because it would block out the sun. Worldwide we only have a surplus o food that can last 60 days, imagine a summer without crops.

Krakatoa that exploded in the 1880's caused the "year without a summer" in England.

Oh yeah, I know. I'm just being flippant. If this thing blows the entire world will be affected.
 

studyguy

Member
Considering it can pretty much obliterate all life on the planet in the fallout of debris following an eruption, not very surprising.
 

potam

Banned
I feel like they keep figuring out it's a shitton bigger every year or so. Why don't they just go ahead and say "it's really really big. we're fucked."
 

slit

Member
Now multiply that radius by 2.5. All of north america will be swallowed. Damni thought we were safe on the east coast, guess we aren't anymore. :(

You're not going to be safe anyway, no matter where you live. You'll freeze even if you're on the other side of the Earth.
 

EVOL 100%

Member
Am I safe in Europe?

In the event it erupts, we're all fucked. Might be better to die painlessly during the eruption quickly than starving and freezing to death very slowly providing you survive the violence from the mass panic on a global scale.

It's not worth thinking about since we can't really do jackshit about it anyway.
 

BigDes

Member
To clarify

You would be safe from the blast itself, but the ash and gunk thrown up into the air would probably cause problems everywhere
 
I'm in favor of every magma chamber being armed with a handgun

But seriously, Sub-Zero, I assumed you'd staunchly be opposed to empowering lava. You know its really hot, right?

An extinction-event level pyroclastic explosion would kick countless tons of of dirt and debris into the atmosphere, temporarily blotting out the sun. It may suck in the short term, but as long as I'm out of range of the eruption I can enjoy global cooling for a few years.
 

King_Moc

Banned
Am I safe in Europe?

If the ash cloud covers most of the world for about 2 years (and it might well do) then pretty much everything green will die, then regrow from seeds once the sun comes back. That'll destroy the food chain and probably eradicate upwards of 90% of life on the planet.

Humans are extremely adaptable, but we'd need to know about this years in advance to plan for it. If we had the time, I suppose you could build up enough tinned food supplies for everyone to last that time, but with all the energy networks down and the weather being far colder than normal, some people will, unfortunately, be fucked. Merry Christmas :)
 
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