A global disaster never witnessed by mankind may one day explode over Yellowstone National Park. Ordinary volcanoes can kill thousands of people and even wipe out entire cities. But it is thought a supervolcano, such as the one lying dormant under Yellowstone, could kill a billion and flatten North America.
Three large Yellowstone volcano mega eruptions have previously unleashed apocalyptic devastation.
This means Yellowstone eruptions have historically taken place approximately every 650,000 years, leaving some to fear Yellowstone is now overdue another eruption.
“A super-eruption is the world’s biggest bang”, says Professor Bill McGuire of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at the University of London.
“It’s a volcanic explosion big enough to dwarf all others and with a reach great enough to affect everyone on the planet”.
Scientists believe Yellowstone is now one of the most unpredictable and deadly threats faced by humanity.
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A scientific team studying the effects of Yellowstone’s last eruption has suggested the volcano could blow a far faster than previously thought.
University of Arizona scientists examined the commonly-held assumption Yellowstone would prepare to blow over several centuries.
Researcher Hannah Shamloo said: “It is shocking how little time is required to take a volcanic system from being quiet and sitting there to the edge of an eruption.”
Fortunately there currently are no indications Yellowstone is preparing to erupt anytime soon.
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This is despite the pessimistic estimates the supervolcano is thousands of years overdue.
Michael Poland, geophysicist at the Cascades Volcano Observatory, said: “We see interesting things all the time, but we have not seen anything leading us to believe that the sort of magmatic event described by the researchers is happening.”
When Yellowstone last erupted 630,000 years ago, the super volcano spewed an incredible 240 cubic miles worth of ash and rock.
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A much smaller eruption, and the last one on record, took place around 70,000 years.
And a consensus of scientists believe if Yellowstone were to erupt soon, the eruption would be on a solar scale.
Dr Till said: “It would most likely be one of the smaller ones. “If we were looking for warning signs, that’s what would we be looking for.”
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