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Will the human race survive an eruption of the supervolcano under Yellowstone Park?

The Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, on average, about every 800,000 years. We believe that it last erupted about 860,000 years ago. It's overdue. It dumped a thick layer of ash over most of the North West and the Midwest and probably caused hundreds of years of constant winter over the Northern Hemisphere. Will mankind survive such a catastrophe?

Posted - February 12, 2017
Tags : Supervolcano Yellowstone Doomsday

Responses


  • Just barely if at all. A supervolcano would be a worldwide disaster. According to what I just read? Chances aren't good as the last time one blew was when the last Ice age started. It is due!

    What would happen if: A super volcano erupted? | WIRED UK

    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at February 15, 2017 2:59 PM MST
      February 12, 2017 7:40 AM MST
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  • Actually, data shows Yellowstone's eruptions have been a bit more frequent than you say. The last event happened about 640,000 yrs ago, with previous eruptions of varying size at 1.2 million and 2.1 million yrs ago. I'd speculate some humans would survive, at least for a while, certainly only a paltry few in the northern hemisphere, but the destruction of our society would be complete. As most people alive now are ill-prepared to exist long-term in a basic survival condition, starvation, disease and despair would run rampant among those who remained alive in what would be a colder and darker world. 

    Still, my money is on an asteroid getting us first. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at February 15, 2017 2:59 PM MST
      February 12, 2017 8:29 AM MST
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  • 1713
    Only one way to find out and I hope I'm not around to find out.
      February 12, 2017 8:50 AM MST
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  • 13395
    Maybe instead of wasting  all those millions of tons of concrete to build a silly wall Trump could use it to  save the world by putting a concrete cap over the volcano.

    Donald Trump saves the world! Would he ever be in his glory...
      February 12, 2017 9:13 AM MST
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  • Surely you jest. This suggestion would mean concreting over a national park and environmental treasure with no reason to think it would actually suppress an eruption. 
    Does political bias have to play into every discussion? 
      February 12, 2017 9:20 AM MST
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  • 13395
    Well maybe instead of pouring the stuff over top the whole Park and ruining it it might actually be more effective to drill a hole down to a certain depth and force the concrete down there.

    Another thought.. maybe a pipe of a certain diameter could be inserted down through the mass to see if that might work to establish a controlled emission instead of a whopping big killer volcanic explosion. 

    'Course I really  doubt any serious thought will ever be given to try that. This post was edited by Kittigate at February 12, 2017 12:20 PM MST
      February 12, 2017 9:41 AM MST
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  • I see where you're going with this Kittigate, but I think you're missing the scale of the stuation. I have a Bachelor's in Engineering, lets look at this from an engineer's POV.

    Based on what we know of previous events, an eruption of the Yellowstone caldera would displace more than 250 CUBIC MILES of material, there isn't enough concrete available to tamp down that kind of force. We'd only be providing more rock to blast skyward. Besides, would poking a hole down into the current cap be such a good idea? Not to mention the problems caused by the millions of trucks it would take to deliver the concrete. 
     
    As for venting, the entire area is peppered with vents, geysers and other geological features that may maintain the status quo indefinitely, but then, perhaps not. 

    The fact is should such an event be imminent, it is far beyond our capability to prevent it. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at February 15, 2017 3:00 PM MST
      February 12, 2017 10:09 AM MST
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  • 13395
    Ok. All right,  thanks...

    250 cubic miles..!! WHOA!
      February 12, 2017 10:46 AM MST
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  • Yep, that is worth a WHOA!
    I think we'll be ok for our lifetimes. If I'm wrong, apologies would be merited, but make little difference. 
      February 12, 2017 11:05 AM MST
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  • 6023
    No.  IF the Yellowstone Caldera explodes, it will create a "nuclear winter".  I mean, you're talking an area the size of 4 large US states exploding.  There will be so much debris in the atmosphere, no light will penetrate ... no light = no vegetation = no food = no life. This post was edited by Walt O'Reagun at February 15, 2017 3:01 PM MST
      February 12, 2017 9:15 AM MST
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  • Damn cold too. 
      February 12, 2017 9:21 AM MST
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  • 6023
    My personal theory ... the Cascadia Subduction will trigger both the San Andreas Fault and the Yellowstone Caldera ... and everything west of the Rockies will cease to exist within 5 minutes.
      February 12, 2017 1:43 PM MST
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  • Then I'll be snapping up that Colorado beachfront...after the tsunamis and all. 
      February 12, 2017 1:47 PM MST
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  • 7795
    We all are pretty much screwed.
      February 12, 2017 9:19 AM MST
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  • 22891
    i would hope so, ive worked in yellowstone one summer
      February 12, 2017 4:23 PM MST
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  • 170
    I'm offering insurance. $100 a pop. Payout of $500,000 to you if you claim after the supervolcano erupts.
      February 15, 2017 3:03 PM MST
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