Yellowstone Super Volcano Is A Ticking Time Bomb

The Yellowstone National Park has been discovered to contain a magma reservoir which can fill the Grand Canyon 11 times over. The research group has used cutting-edge seismic technology to measure the extent of the magma reserves. A volcanic explosion of this extent could have the potential to change the course of human history.

A seismology research team lead by researcher Hsin Hua Huang, have published the results in the Journal Science. The researchers have discovered a Magma reservoir 40 miles below the surface which constantly replenishes the shallow magma chamber below it. According to the United States Geological Survey (via Christian Science Monitor) the volcanic history and continued presence of magma points to the possibility of a volcanic eruption. According to USGS, if the Yellowstone eruption occurs, then it would alter global weather patterns and affect agriculture, residences, rivers, thus altering human life altogether.”

As per scientific reports (via Tech Times), the volcanic eruption involving Yellowstone happened 640,000 years ago and the odds of this happening today is much less. A great volcanic eruption which altered the earth’s topography has not occurred in living memory. But volcanic explosions like Mount St. Helen or the Mount Pinatubo has been catastrophic. Mount Pinatubo explosion exploded in 1991, spewing ash over a 3-kilometre radius. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the biggest explosion could have been that of Mount Tambora, in Indonesia which killed over 15,000 people. It altered Earth’s climate and the year 1815 was recorded as “the year without summer.” Mount Krakatoa in 1883 killed thousands in the Java Islands and in AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted flattening the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

According to CNN, these above eruptions could count to nothing compared to a potential Yellowstone explosion. It would potentially endanger the entire Pacific rim with seismic reactions across the region. However, the seismologists reported that the chance of the Yellowstone eruption is 1 in 700,000. So for now, tourists can continue to marvel at the hot springs and geysers in Yellowstone National Park and wonder at the rumble beneath their feet.

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