31 Aug 2017

The risk of a Yellowstone Supervolcano eruption

From Afternoons, 1:19 pm on 31 August 2017

Forget an asteroid hitting the planet and wiping out life on earth, there's a more urgent and imminent danger which has seen Nasa get involved with - Yellowstone Caldera - a super-volcano in the U.S.

Its one of 20 known so-called super-volcanoes around the world which, if it erupted,  could produce so much fiery magma that the ensuing ash cloud might starve the Earth of sunlight in a choking, years-long volcanic winter.

It's also thought the Yellowstone volcano erupts once every 600,000 years or so, and it's been about that long since its last super-eruption.

Don't worry though, Brian Wilcox is with NASA's  Jet Propulsion Laboratory  and has been part of the team coming up with a strategy to counter the threat.

We also have a few super volcanoes in New Zealand by the way!

Morning Glory Pool - Yellowstone

Morning Glory Pool - Yellowstone Photo: Wiki commons

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