Supervolcano Risk is Real
Posted on March 14, 2005
The BBC reports that scientists are recommending an emergency management taskforce be established in case there is a massive volcanic eruption somewhere on Earth known as a super-eruption. The warning coincides with a new BBC TV drama, called Supervolcano, that depicts a fictional super-eruption at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, US. Geologists say this is more than just a risk. It is really going to happen someday.
"We don't want to be sensationalist about this, but it's going to happen. We just can't say exactly when," Open University Geology Professor Stephen Self told the BBC. Scientists so far can not predict exactly when or where such a massive explosion might occur, but one possible spot is Yellowstone. This geological hot spot, which is also known as a caldera, is the largest volcanic system in North America.
The producers of the film had this to say about Yellowstone, "It was an obvious choice for the programme makers as the site of their super-eruption because of its location on a highly populated continent and because it has already had three of these events, which have occurred roughly 600,000 years apart from each other."
Let's hope we don't see a fourth eruption anytime soon. Wikipedia has more on the Yellowstone Caldera.
