Yellowstone Super Volcano: A Pending Apocalypse?

Yellowstone National Park

One of the most likely and most devastating natural disasters that could affect the world on an apocalyptic scale is the eruption of the Yellowstone Super Volcano. According to the National Park Service Public Use Statistics Office over 278,900,000 people visited the state park in 2011. If an eruption were to happen it would likely instantly kill everyone within a 100 mile radius and, within days, cover the majority of the United States in ash.

Yet many people are unaware that the threat even exists. Typically, when we think of volcanoes, we think of large, cone-shaped mountains. Super Volcanoes are different. According to Wikipedia, a Super Volcano is capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles). This is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions such as Vesuvius or Mount St. Helens. Super Volcanoes occur when magma rises into the crust from a hotspot but is unable to break through. Pressure builds in the massive magma pool (for the example of Yellowstone, the pool of lava is between 5-15 miles below ground and approximately 45x35 miles across) until the crust is unable to contain the pressure. The most noticeable difference is the lack of the iconic cone shape. Super Volcanoes are so large that they don’t even appear to be a mountain. The explosions are so powerful that  they often form circular calderas rather than cones because  the ground literally collapses into the magma chamber. The caldera at Yellowstone is 35 miles wide by 45 miles long, one of the most massive calderas in existence.

We know that Yellowstone has the potential for massive eruption because this has happened at least three times in the past. One at 2.1 million years ago, one at 1.3 million years ago, and the latest at 640,000 years ago, a rate of roughly one explosion every 700,000 years. Which means, it’s due for another any time now.

The eruption itself will be a powerful event. The violence of the explosion will send molten rock and ash rocketing into the atmosphere up to 30 miles high. While the initial deaths will be caused by the explosion itself and magma raining from the air, the death count will rise much higher in the days to follow.

Fallout Map for Super Volcano Eruption

An ash cloud will cover the majority of North America, depending on the wind currents. This ash will mix with precipitation in the air creating a cement-like substance and for days, possibly weeks, this mixture will rain down across the continent. The weight of this ash rain will cause building, bridges, and other vital infrastructure to collapse. And still the worst is yet to come.

According to Alan Robock, an Environmental Scientist at Rutgers University, “Sulpher gases that go into the stratosphere will react with the water and form little droplets of sulfuric acid and this sulfuric haze lasts for a couple of years and that’s what blocks out the sun and cools the earth.” This blanketing of the earth will block sunlight for several years causing temperatures to plummet and the world will enter what is known as a “Volcanic Winter.” This would change the face of the earth forever. Desserts would become snow blown tundras. Rainforest would wither and die as temperatures drop. And worst of all, the entire modern agriculture industry would be destroyed.

Volcanic Ash Rising into the Atmosphere

Without sunlight, crops will die. This would cause livestock to perish and people to starve. Massive famine would sweep the world and where there is famine, war and disease will follow. This is a link I will talk about many times because they are so innately connected. Whenever people are starving there will be a mass migration. This migration could be friendly but usually the onslaught of massive amounts of refugees causes socio-political instability and war erupts. Anytime, either through war or famine, that enormous numbers of people move to new locations, disease follows in their wake.

These are likely the reasons that when the last Super Volcano eruption happened 75,000 years ago, approximately 90% of the human population at that time perished. That is more than the Black Plague, smallpox or any war in history. In today's terms, that number would rise to over 5.5 million people dead.

Can we predict when it will explode? No. Even volcanologists fail to accurately predict volcanic eruptions but there is at least one sign we can watch for. Earthquakes. Earthquakes are one signifier that large amounts of molten rock are moving upwards. Last year, scientists at Yellowstone recorded over 3,000 earthquakes and an increase in elevation by 10 inches.  These are both signs that the underground pressure is building. The Federal government has made it easy for average citizens to monitor the earthquakes in Yellowstone. This website gives you access to 26 seismic stations that give live measurements from within the park.

How can we prepare? There is almost no way to fully prepare for an event of this magnitude. The best way, if you are outside the initial 100 mile radius, would be to maintain an available food supply (generally at least one year’s worth of food) and have all the tools available for combating the ash-rain and possibly rebuilding/replanting as soon as possible. If you are within that radius the only preparation would be to leave. Even with the most massive precautions, it is unlikely that anyone could be truly prepared.

If you have any comments or questions about this or other apocalyptic events, feel free to leave a message either here on my blog or email me at gfmwagner@gmail.com