The earth around the Yellowstone supervolcano
is increasingly becoming seismically active. Some scientists say it is
not a matter of "if" the Yellowstone supervolcano will erupt, but rather "when" it will erupt.
And so, questions persist about a "worst-case scenario" Yellowstone supervolcano eruption:
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Professor Bob Smith, a University of Utah geophysics professor, says in his 53 years of monitoring seismic activity in and around the Yellowstone caldera, he never witnessed two simultaneous earthquake swarms, that is until Sept 2013, when he witnessed 130 quakes in Yellowstone over the course of a single week.
Unavco, a nonprofit consortium funded by the National Science Foundation, manages a large GPS instrument network. It helps scientists install temporary and fixed stations at or near the earth’s surface to measure movements in the earth's crust. It has sensors in Yellowstone.
In late May, Unavco issued a warning on one of its Yellowstone sensor
s when a yellow warning light came on. Then today, there is the latest news from videographer Mary Greeley, who gives Yellowstone supervolcano updates for June 1 as follows:
The ground underneath Yellowstone National Park has been rising at a record rate of about three inches a year, and the volcano is continuously monitored by seismographs (though a lot of this information is being withheld from the public by the USGS and others). In fact, the volcano could erupt at any time and, in theory, officials would detect an impending eruption and alert Americans.
It is thought (hoped) the U.S. will have a few weeks or at least days of warning to evacuate large numbers of its citizens abroad. Time will tell. Tick tock!
Cited Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/questions-persist-about-yellowstone-eruption-is-us-evacuation-plan-place
And so, questions persist about a "worst-case scenario" Yellowstone supervolcano eruption:
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- Is US Geological Service (USGS) keeping an eye on Yellowstone caldera and hiding data from the public?
- What does the "Yellowstone eruption warning" from Unavco mean and just who is Unavco?
- Does the US have a contingency plan in place for a worst case scenario?
- Does the worst-cast scenario involve an evacuation plan?
- If Yellowstone erupts, will millions of US citizens be evacuated to Brazil, Australia, or Argentina?
As an aside: US keeps 450 Minuteman III ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) at three air force bases in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. There are missile silos in Montana and Wyoming. In April the Pentagon announced that is removing missiles from these silos. What with all that seismic activity stirring at Yellowstone, not to mention widespread cheating on proficiency tests by Air Force officers serving on Minuteman III launch teams, its probably a very good idea to get as many missiles as possible out of the area.A Yellowstone eruption could leave the entire Midwest of the United States covered with volcanic ash and two-thirds of the country uninhabitable, with food production almost totally wiped out. The entire planet would be affected, with global temperatures dropping by as much as 20 degrees.
Professor Bob Smith, a University of Utah geophysics professor, says in his 53 years of monitoring seismic activity in and around the Yellowstone caldera, he never witnessed two simultaneous earthquake swarms, that is until Sept 2013, when he witnessed 130 quakes in Yellowstone over the course of a single week.
Unavco, a nonprofit consortium funded by the National Science Foundation, manages a large GPS instrument network. It helps scientists install temporary and fixed stations at or near the earth’s surface to measure movements in the earth's crust. It has sensors in Yellowstone.
In late May, Unavco issued a warning on one of its Yellowstone sensor
s when a yellow warning light came on. Then today, there is the latest news from videographer Mary Greeley, who gives Yellowstone supervolcano updates for June 1 as follows:
- Old Faithful geyser had a very large eruption with a dark cloud that included extremely hot steam.
- Two Yellowstone monitoring stations are now under at an orange alert level after the 3.3 quake
- A definite uplift and a water temperature spike
The ground underneath Yellowstone National Park has been rising at a record rate of about three inches a year, and the volcano is continuously monitored by seismographs (though a lot of this information is being withheld from the public by the USGS and others). In fact, the volcano could erupt at any time and, in theory, officials would detect an impending eruption and alert Americans.
It is thought (hoped) the U.S. will have a few weeks or at least days of warning to evacuate large numbers of its citizens abroad. Time will tell. Tick tock!
Cited Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/questions-persist-about-yellowstone-eruption-is-us-evacuation-plan-place
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