Melchizedek Prophecy - Iceland Volcano threatens world tourism and environment if it erupts

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In yet another example of the warning of a year of devastating storms and weather anomalies in order for Mother Earth to correct the damage we have done to it with over 2,000 nuclear bomb explosions since 1950, one of the world record disaster potentials is volcanic eruptions.  This is another element of the one year of record shattering weather anomalies followed by seven years of more random destruction as prophesied by Melchizedek.

Iceland's Enormous Bardarbunga Volcano 'Ready to Erupt' as Four Earthquakes Strike in Just Two Hours

 

Melissa Matthews,Newsweek 8 hours ago 

Iceland’s largest volcano, Bardarbunga, could erupt at any moment, bringing a cloud of ash that could hinder worldwide tourism, and cause air quality issues, reports Yahoo UK. Some worry it would be reminiscent of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajoekull, which disturbed travel at the time.

The country’s largest volcano, which stands at 6,591 feet above sea level, has been hit with earthquakes this week. These vibrations could have huge implications, according to volcanic expert, Páll Einarsson at the University of Iceland. He spoke to the Daily Star in the UK and explained that an eruption is brewing. 

A photo during the last eruption of Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano. Experts believe the volcano could have another eruption within the next few years. BERNARD MERIC/AFP/Getty Images

“The volcano is clearly preparing for its next eruption, that may happen in the next few years,” he told the outlet. The earthquake won't cause an eruption; rather, they hint that one could be coming. “The earthquakes last week are just the symptoms of this process, they do not cause the volcano to erupt,” he told the Daily Star.

Bardarbunga last erupted in 2014, and NASA documents show that seismic activity increased for seven years before the event. It dipped briefly in 2011 after another volcano located nearby, Grímsvötn, erupted, but once again became more active in August 2014. Later that month, the volcano finally erupted, spewing lava for days.

What concerns most experts is that the next eruption could be a repeat of the chaos in 2010 following the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. According to The Telegraph, 100,000 flights were cancelled from the incident, leaving 10 million people stranded. Airlines lost $1.7 billion dollars in revenue. LiveScience reports that the eruption, which stopped flights for almost a month, was so drastic because the ash spread further than normal and was present in the atmosphere for a greater length of time.  

Scientists later discovered that the prolonged drama was in part due to an adverse reaction between the magma and the surrounding glacial water. The ash was more porous and not as aerodynamic, which made them stay afloat longer.

There’s no evidence that if the eruption of Bardarbunga would cause the same kind of havoc. Einarsson told the Daily Star that it’s simply not possible to determine what the next eruption will be like, but thinks it will be harmless according to the statistics.

Lava flowing from the last eruption of the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland. A new eruption could cause havoc for air travel.BERNARD MERIC/AFP/Getty Images

Still, Einarsson said the country needs to prepare for the worst.

Though he emphasizes they are not common, he also says “we have to be prepared for larger and more disastrous eruptions.” 

Conversations with Melchizedek - Earth's Weather Anomalies - Are there Dark Clouds on the Horizon?

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 Related to the Solar Eclipse August 21?

It seems this has been a record-breaking year and not just in terms of political mayhem but in terms of the weather as well.  The more I follow the trends and deviations of the weather report the more concerned I become about our near future.

The last time the weather forecasters were consistently right about the coming weather was before the technology revolution took the predicting out of the hands of the Farmer's Almanac and turned it over to the "scientists."

Why can our ranchers and farmers, and American Indians, predict weather with great accuracy, certainly better than any new-fangled satellites, balloons, or computers?  Now we have no clue what the weather will bring even after spending billions of dollars to fill the sky with all that junk.

If we did get accurate information from the weather bureau, would we know if the weather patterns are spinning out of control, does a coming period of extremely dangerous natural disasters like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions pose a threat to us?

Many New Age channels are calling for such an occurrence, as are Christian groups who receive messages from God.  Most say we are entering a time of significant earth changes as we and or the planet are going through where our frequency increases.  Many see this as a critical point in the spiritual evolution of all of Creation including the human race.

While the foreboding prophecies do not mention it, the coming Solar Eclipse on August 21 seems to be the beginning of this period of increasing weather anomalies.  Called the Great American Eclipse it is the pivotal date in the coming series of natural disasters throughout the world.

As for the duration, here the forecasters, Christians, psychics, and prognosticators differ, offering a variety of choices from four months to a year, or simply by calling it the Apocalypse, the fulfillment of the Book of Revelations ancient prophecy.  In case you do not know about this, it means The End Times!

The Great Eclipse, so named, is a case of showing up in the right place at the wrong time thus blamed for causing the weather chaos, the resulting death and destruction, or being responsible for obliterating everything.

There is a website called Eclipse.org where you can get updates about the event.  You should check it out.  I will be reviewing the anticipated range of calamities in a series of articles.  Here is what Eclipse.org says about the day of the eclipse.

Dedicated to the safe observation of the Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017!

August 21, 2017

Eclipse Day!

No human action can disrupt the incessant dance of the cosmos, and the Moon's shadow will not wait on you if you're not ready. Like a mindless juggernaut, it plows its way through space toward a collision course with Earth. As predicted by the astronomers decades in advance, the shadow arrives with perfect accuracy, and touches down in the north Pacific Ocean at 16:48:33 UT*, at local sunrise. (At that spot, the Sun will actually rise while totally eclipsed. This is a sight few people - even veteran eclipse chasers - have seen, and from what we hear, it is quite uncanny.)

A minute later, the entire shadow (the "umbral cone") will have made landfall - er, ocean-fall - and will be racing across the surface of the water at supersonic speed. Except for folks on ships at sea, and the occasional ocean-dwelling critter who dares to venture too near the surface, nothing sentient will note the passing of the umbra - until land gets in the way.   

Since we are only 46 days away from the eclipse, I do urge you to keep your senses clear and pay great attention to all of nature around you.  There are warning signs provided by nature through the air, water, animals, birds, and insects.  Pay attention.

Remember, most wannabe prophets say there will be a build up to the eclipse as things will not simply start on August 21.  If there is a series of intense natural disasters with a dramatic increase in frequency and severity, it most likely will last for up to a year.

Future articles will discuss how to prepare and where are the danger areas, but for now, you should be content, knowing there is a great chance the news media obsession with politics will be ending soon, as a far greater challenge may descend upon humanity.

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Deadliest Volcanoes in the World

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BY MATTHEW BLACKETT ON 4/14/17 AT 6:19 AM

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

An eruption of Mount Etna recently caught out some BBC journalists who were filming there. The footage was extraordinary and highlighted the hazards volcanoes pose to humans and society. 

Since 1600, 278,880 people have been killed by volcanic activity, with many of these deaths attributed to secondary hazards associated with the main eruption. Starvation killed 92,000 following the 1815 Tambora eruption in Indonesia, for example, and a volcanic tsunami killed 36,000 following the 1883 Krakatoa eruption.

Since the 1980s, deaths related to volcanic eruptions have been rather limited, but this is not entirely a result of increased preparedness or investment in hazard management—it is significantly a matter of chance.

Research shows that volcanic activity has shown no let up since the turn of the 21st century—it just hasn’t been around population centers. Indeed, there remain a number of volcanoes poised to blow that pose a major threat to life and livelihood.

Vesuvius, Italy

Known for its 79AD eruption, that destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Vesuvius is still a significant hazard given that it overshadows the city of Naples and its surrounds, that are home to over 3 million people.

It is also known for a particularly intense form of eruption. Plinian (after Pliny the Younger who was the first to describe the 79AD event) eruptions are characterized by the ejection of a vast column of gas and ash that extends into the stratosphere, far higher than commercial airliners fly.

Were such an eruption to occur at Vesuvius today, it is likely that much of the population would already have been evacuated as a precursory swarm of earthquakes would likely herald its imminent approach. But those who remained would initially be showered with huge pumice rocks too large to be kept aloft by the column of gas.

Then, as the volcano began to run out of energy, the column itself would collapse, causing smaller particles of rock (from fine ash to small boulders) to fall from the sky and back to Earth at high velocity. Asphyxiating clouds of gas and pulverized rock—pyroclastic density currents—would then flood down the slopes of the volcano, annihilating anything in their path. Such gas-ash features have been known to travel tens of kilometers and at terrifying speeds, potentially turning modern Naples into a new Pompeii.

Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo

This central African volcano has erupted several times over the last few decades and while its eruptions aren’t particularly explosive, it produces a particularly runny—and dangerous—form of lava. Once effused, this lava can rapidly move down the flanks of the volcano and inundate areas with little or no warning.

In 2002, the lava lake at the volcano’s summit was breached, resulting in streams of lava hurtling toward the nearby city of Goma at 60km/h, engulfing parts of it to a depth of two meters.

Fortunately, warnings had been issued as the volcano’s unrest has made it the focus of intense research—and over 300,000 people were evacuated in time. Should such an event occur again, we have to hope that the authorities are equally prepared, but this is a politically unstable area and it remains seriously vulnerable.

Popocatepetl, Mexico

“Popo”, as the locals call it, is just 70km southwest of the one of the largest cities in the world: Mexico City, home to 20m people. Popo is regularly active and its most recent bout of activity in 2016 sent a plume of ash to an altitude of five kilometers.

In recent times, and indeed throughout much of its history, eruptive events at Popo have consisted of similarly isolated ash plumes. But these plumes coat the mountain in a thick blanket of ash that, when mixed with water, can form a dense muddy mixture that has the potential to flow for many kilometers and at relatively high speeds.

Such phenomena, known as “lahars”, can be extremely deadly, as exemplified by the Nevado del Ruiz disaster of 1985 when around 26,000 people were killed in the town of Armero, Colombia, by a lahar with a volcanic source that was 60km away.

The Nevado del Ruiz tragedy was the direct result of volcanic activity melting ice at the volcano’s summit, but a large volume of rainfall or snowmelt could feasibly generate a similar lahar on Popo. This could flow down-slope toward nearby settlements with little or no warning.

Krakatoa, Indonesia

Otherwise named Krakatau, Krakatoa’s name is infamous; 36,000 people were killed by the tsunami triggered by its 1886 eruption, that released more energy than 13,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. The eruption destroyed the volcanic island completely, but within 50 years, a new island had appeared in its place.

The new island is named Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) and since the 1920s, it has been growing in episodic phases, reaching about 300 meters in height today. New and significant activity commenced in 2007 and since this time, further episodes of activity were noted at the volcano, most recently in March 2017.

No one knows for sure whether or not the spectacular growth of Anak Krakatau means it may one day repeat the catastrophe its “father” unleashed, but its location between Indonesia’s two most populated islands, Java and Sumatra, means it poses a grave threat to life.

Changbaishan, China

Few have heard of this volcano in a remote part of Asia—and its last eruption was in 1903. However, its history tells a rather scarier story. In around 969AD, the volcano produced one of the largest eruptions of the last 10,000 years, releasing three times more material than Krakatoa did in 1886.

One of the chief hazards is posed by the massive crater lake at its peak (with a volume of about nine cubic kilometers). If breached, this lake could generate lahars that would pose a significant threat to the 100,000 people that live in the vicinity.

In the early 2000s, scientists began monitoring the hitherto under-monitored volcano, and determined that its activity was increasing, that its magma chamber dormancy was coming to an end, and that it could pose a hazard in the following decades.

Further complicating things is the fact that Changbaishan straddles the border of China and North Korea. Given such a geo-politically sensitive location, the effects of any volcanic activity here would likely be very hard to manage.

Matthew Blackett is Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography and Natural Hazards at Coventry University

Yellowstone Supervolcano Hit by a Swarm of More Than 230 Earthquakes in One Week

June 2017 Update on Yellowstone

Hannah Osborne

NewsweekJune 19, 2017

Yellowstone supervolcano has been hit by a series of earthquakes, with more 30 recorded since June 12. The latest was recorded on Monday, June 19, with a magnitude 3 earthquake striking 8.6 miles north northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana.

The swarm began last week, and on June 15 saw a magnitude 4.5 earthquake take place in Yellowstone National Park. “The epicenter of the shock was located in Yellowstone National Park, eight miles north-northeast of the town of West Yellowstone, Montana,” scientists from the University of Utah, which monitors Yellowstone Volcano, said in a statement.

“The earthquake was [reportedly] felt in the towns of West Yellowstone and Gardiner, Montana, in Yellowstone National Park, and elsewhere in the surrounding region.”

This earthquake was the largest to have hit Yellowstone since March 30, 2014, when a magnitude 4.8 earthquake was recorded 18 miles to the east, near the Norris Geyser Basin.

“[The 4.5] earthquake is part of an energetic sequence of earthquakes in the same area that began on June 12,” the statement continued. “This sequence has included approximately thirty earthquakes of magnitude 2 and larger and four earthquakes of magnitude 3 and larger, including today's magnitude 4.5 event.”

As of June 16, 235 events had been recorded. Most of these ranged in the magnitude of 0 to 1, with five less than zero.

yellowstone usgs

Map shows the magnitude 3 earthquake that struck Yellowstone on June 19. USGS

The University of Utah is part of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), which monitors volcanic and earthquake activity in Yellowstone National Park. Seismic activity at volcanoes can signal an eruption is due to take place, although predicting exactly when a volcano will erupt is, at present, impossible.

Experts at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) say the risk of an eruption at Yellowstone supervolcano is low—the current volcano alert level remains normal and the aviation color code, which provides information on the potential risk to fights, is green—meaning the volcano is in a normal, non-eruptive state.

A spokesperson from the USGS and YVO tells Newsweek the current activity appears to be “slowly winding down” and that “no other geological activity has been detected.”

The probability of a large eruption at Yellowstone in the next year is currently calculated at one in 730,000.

yellowstone

View of the 'Grand Prismatic' hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

But what would happen if it did erupt? In 2014, scientists with the USGS published a report where they modeled what would happen if a large, explosive eruption took place at the supervolcano. Their findings showed most of the country would be covered in a blanket of ash, with some areas being buried up to a meter deep.

However, the USGS also said that if Yellowstone were to erupt, it would likely be far smaller than the one modeled. They also described what would concerning signs of activity would constitute: "Yellowstone hasn't erupted for 70,000 years, so it's going to take some impressive earthquakes and ground uplift to get things started,” the team said in a press release.

"Besides intense earthquake swarms (with many earthquakes above M4 or M5), we expect rapid and notable uplift around the caldera (possibly tens of inches per year). Finally, rising magma will cause explosions from the boiling-temperature geothermal reservoirs. Even with explosions, earthquakes and notable ground uplift, the most likely volcanic eruptions would be the type that would have minimal effect outside the park itself."

Yellowstone Supervolcano - the Slumbering Giant may Awaken Soon

Business Tech

World’s largest “supervolcano” is even bigger than previously thought

By The Conversation May 2, 2015

Seismologists have discovered a massive magma reservoir beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming, US, that suggests its volcanic system could be more than 5.6 times larger than was previously thought.

Although it was already known that Yellowstone had one magma reservoir, located about 5-16km (3-10 miles) below the surface, the new study, published in Science, has revealed another, much larger reservoir sitting directly below the first, located around 20-50km (12-30 miles) below the surface.

This reservoir is thought to have a volume of around 46,000 cubic km – compared to a volume of around 10,000 cubic km for the shallow reservoir.

To make their discovery scientists analysed the vibrations made by earthquakes that passed beneath the volcano. The technique not only sheds light on this volcano’s potentially life-threatening eruptions but it could also help us understand other volcanoes such as Calbaco, which is currently erupting in Chile.

Sleeping Beauty

Yellowstone volcano is composed of an immense volcanic crater – known as a caldera – more more than 70km (44 miles) in length, most of which lies within Yellowstone National Park. The volcano rarely erupts lava (it last did so about 70,000 years ago, but the magma lying beneath the surface gives rise to spectacular geothermal features, such as geysers and colourful hot springs.

The last large eruption at Yellowstone was 64,000 years ago, and ejected around 1,000 cubic kilometres (240 cubic miles) of volcanic material. This cataclysm created the Yellowstone caldera. To get an idea of the scale of this, the largest eruption in recorded history, Mount Tambora in 1815, erupted about a sixth of that.

Magma reservoirs are thought to occur beneath most volcanoes, and play a crucial role in the dynamics of eruptions. However, they are too deep, and conditions within them too extreme, to be measured directly so volcanologists have to infer information about them using other means, such as measuring seismic waves.

These waves travel more slowly when they pass through molten rock, and accordingly the group were able to use the velocities of the earthquake waves to infer the presence of a large, deep zone of partially molten material.

Carbon footprint explained

The magma stored in the deeper reservoir probably doesn’t cause eruptions at Yellowstone directly. Instead, it likely acts as a “feeder” for the smaller, shallower reservoir – which is the ultimate source of the volcano’s catastrophic eruptions.

Scientists had suspected the existence of a second magma reservoir at Yellowstone for some time, but this new evidence is among the strongest support of the theory to date.

The discovery of this second magma reservoir may also help to explain a mysterious feature of the Yellowstone volcano: its carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide gas is commonplace at volcanoes (it is given off by rising magma), but Yellowstone’s output, which is around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 each day, was too high to be explained by a single magma reservoir. But according to the study’s authors, the presence of the new reservoir is enough to account for the volcano’s CO2 flux.

If the high-resolution seismic imaging technique used in the study could be repeated at other volcanoes whose deep structure is poorly understood – such as Calbuco volcano in Chile – volcanologists might eventually be able to understand how such eruptions take place. The first stirrings of volcanic eruptions happen far below the surface. If researchers can emulate the findings at Yellowstone at other volcanoes, it can only tell us more about the risks they pose.

By Robin Wylie, PhD researcher in Volcanology at UCL

Nine months ago

If This Supervolcano Erupts, Two-Thirds of America Will Be Screwed

Deep in America’s northwest, there lies a supervolcano that, if erupted, has the potential to wipe out the majority of the United States.

What is a supervolcano exactly?

I think the name says it all, but officially, scientists define it as a volcano capable of an eruption thousands of times greater than any ordinary volcanic explosion.

These supervolcanoes burst when a growing pressure of molten rock, or magma, rises up from the Earth’s mantle.

When the crust can’t contain the buildup anymore — boom.

In historic times, we luckily haven’t experienced a supervolcano explosion. The most recent eruption occurred 27,000 years ago in New Zealand.

But, mankind isn’t out of the woods yet. Deep below Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming lies a supervolcano that is very much alive.

A Volcanic Winter

A massive underground chamber filled with magma sits miles below the surface in America’s oldest national park.

Though scientists are mixed as to whether the place could blow anytime soon, there is one thing they do agree on — if it did, it would push much of Earth to the verge of extinction.

It’s immediate effects would be deadly enough, with some estimates saying that 87,000 people would be killed instantly.

A 10-foot layer of ash would spread up to 1,000 miles away, leaving two-thirds of the country completely uninhabitable.

Once the plume rises high into the stratosphere, the released sulfuric gases would mix with the Earth’s water vapor, which National Geographic reports could launch the country and other parts of the globe into a “volcanic winter.”

Essentially, the United States and much of the world would be brought to its knees.

But the carnage doesn’t stop there. The spread of volcanic ash, rocks and gas would immediately cease any sort of air transportation in much of the world.

Just take into account the traffic shutdown following the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland. The relatively small explosion caused the closure of large swaths of European airspace, as well as a six-day travel ban in the impacted area.

Those who do survive would be left with a big bill too. Doug Bausch, a senior scientist at FEMA, told WND that such a scenario would cause an estimated $3 trillion in damage for North America.

Could it Happen In Your Lifetime?

The last time Yellowstone erupted — roughly 640,000 years ago — the American continent was devastated, with volcanic materials reaching as far as Louisiana over 1,500 miles away.ast decade, there has been some increased activity at the site. Since 2004, the supervolcano has been rising and just this month, roads were closed in Yellowstone after extreme heat from below was melting the asphalt on roads up above.

An explosion of “volcanic winter” magnitude, however doesn’t seem likely according the U.S. Geological Survey.  They say that the chances of a large-scale eruption at Yellowstone “are exceedingly small in the next few thousand years.”

Of course, other scientists (and the conspiracy theorist inside all of us) are a bit more skeptical. See the thing is, these explosions are highly unpredictable. I think the Huffington Post said it most accurately.

“The bulging pocket of magma swishing around beneath Old Faithful might never blow its lid again. Or, it might put on a surprise fireworks show next Independence Day. Scientists just don’t know.”

I guess it just depends who you want to believe. Personally, I’d like to go on living without worrying about choking to death on toxic ash.

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Yellowstone Supervolcano - the Slumbering Giant may Awaken Soon

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Business Tech

World’s largest “supervolcano” is even bigger than previously thought

By The Conversation May 2, 2015

Seismologists have discovered a massive magma reservoir beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming, US, that suggests its volcanic system could be more than 5.6 times larger than was previously thought.

Although it was already known that Yellowstone had one magma reservoir, located about 5-16km (3-10 miles) below the surface, the new study, published in Science, has revealed another, much larger reservoir sitting directly below the first, located around 20-50km (12-30 miles) below the surface.

This reservoir is thought to have a volume of around 46,000 cubic km – compared to a volume of around 10,000 cubic km for the shallow reservoir.

To make their discovery scientists analysed the vibrations made by earthquakes that passed beneath the volcano. The technique not only sheds light on this volcano’s potentially life-threatening eruptions but it could also help us understand other volcanoes such as Calbaco, which is currently erupting in Chile.

Sleeping Beauty

Yellowstone volcano is composed of an immense volcanic crater – known as a caldera – more more than 70km (44 miles) in length, most of which lies within Yellowstone National Park. The volcano rarely erupts lava (it last did so about 70,000 years ago, but the magma lying beneath the surface gives rise to spectacular geothermal features, such as geysers and colourful hot springs.

The last large eruption at Yellowstone was 64,000 years ago, and ejected around 1,000 cubic kilometres (240 cubic miles) of volcanic material. This cataclysm created the Yellowstone caldera. To get an idea of the scale of this, the largest eruption in recorded history, Mount Tambora in 1815, erupted about a sixth of that.

Magma reservoirs are thought to occur beneath most volcanoes, and play a crucial role in the dynamics of eruptions. However, they are too deep, and conditions within them too extreme, to be measured directly so volcanologists have to infer information about them using other means, such as measuring seismic waves.

These waves travel more slowly when they pass through molten rock, and accordingly the group were able to use the velocities of the earthquake waves to infer the presence of a large, deep zone of partially molten material.

Carbon footprint explained

The magma stored in the deeper reservoir probably doesn’t cause eruptions at Yellowstone directly. Instead, it likely acts as a “feeder” for the smaller, shallower reservoir – which is the ultimate source of the volcano’s catastrophic eruptions.

Scientists had suspected the existence of a second magma reservoir at Yellowstone for some time, but this new evidence is among the strongest support of the theory to date.

The discovery of this second magma reservoir may also help to explain a mysterious feature of the Yellowstone volcano: its carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide gas is commonplace at volcanoes (it is given off by rising magma), but Yellowstone’s output, which is around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 each day, was too high to be explained by a single magma reservoir. But according to the study’s authors, the presence of the new reservoir is enough to account for the volcano’s CO2 flux.

If the high-resolution seismic imaging technique used in the study could be repeated at other volcanoes whose deep structure is poorly understood – such as Calbuco volcano in Chile – volcanologists might eventually be able to understand how such eruptions take place. The first stirrings of volcanic eruptions happen far below the surface. If researchers can emulate the findings at Yellowstone at other volcanoes, it can only tell us more about the risks they pose.

By Robin Wylie, PhD researcher in Volcanology at UCL

Nine months ago

If This Supervolcano Erupts, Two-Thirds of America Will Be Screwed

Deep in America’s northwest, there lies a supervolcano that, if erupted, has the potential to wipe out the majority of the United States.

What is a supervolcano exactly?

I think the name says it all, but officially, scientists define it as a volcano capable of an eruption thousands of times greater than any ordinary volcanic explosion.

These supervolcanoes burst when a growing pressure of molten rock, or magma, rises up from the Earth’s mantle.

When the crust can’t contain the buildup anymore — boom.

In historic times, we luckily haven’t experienced a supervolcano explosion. The most recent eruption occurred 27,000 years ago in New Zealand.

But, mankind isn’t out of the woods yet. Deep below Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming lies a supervolcano that is very much alive.

A Volcanic Winter

A massive underground chamber filled with magma sits miles below the surface in America’s oldest national park.

Though scientists are mixed as to whether the place could blow anytime soon, there is one thing they do agree on — if it did, it would push much of Earth to the verge of extinction.

It’s immediate effects would be deadly enough, with some estimates saying that 87,000 people would be killed instantly.

A 10-foot layer of ash would spread up to 1,000 miles away, leaving two-thirds of the country completely uninhabitable.

Once the plume rises high into the stratosphere, the released sulfuric gases would mix with the Earth’s water vapor, which National Geographic reports could launch the country and other parts of the globe into a “volcanic winter.”

Essentially, the United States and much of the world would be brought to its knees.

But the carnage doesn’t stop there. The spread of volcanic ash, rocks and gas would immediately cease any sort of air transportation in much of the world.

Just take into account the traffic shutdown following the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland. The relatively small explosion caused the closure of large swaths of European airspace, as well as a six-day travel ban in the impacted area.

Those who do survive would be left with a big bill too. Doug Bausch, a senior scientist at FEMA, told WND that such a scenario would cause an estimated $3 trillion in damage for North America.

Could it Happen In Your Lifetime?

The last time Yellowstone erupted — roughly 640,000 years ago — the American continent was devastated, with volcanic materials reaching as far as Louisiana over 1,500 miles away.ast decade, there has been some increased activity at the site. Since 2004, the supervolcano has been rising and just this month, roads were closed in Yellowstone after extreme heat from below was melting the asphalt on roads up above.

An explosion of “volcanic winter” magnitude, however doesn’t seem likely according the U.S. Geological Survey.  They say that the chances of a large-scale eruption at Yellowstone “are exceedingly small in the next few thousand years.”

Of course, other scientists (and the conspiracy theorist inside all of us) are a bit more skeptical. See the thing is, these explosions are highly unpredictable. I think the Huffington Post said it most accurately.

“The bulging pocket of magma swishing around beneath Old Faithful might never blow its lid again. Or, it might put on a surprise fireworks show next Independence Day. Scientists just don’t know.”

I guess it just depends who you want to believe. Personally, I’d like to go on living without worrying about choking to death on toxic ash.

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