globalnews.ca - A supervolcano brewing under Yellowstone National Park could erupt sooner than initially thought, and if it does, it could wipe out life on the planet, scientists are warning.
Researchers from Arizona State University analyzed minerals in fossilized ash from the volcano’s most recent mega-eruption (more than 630,000 years ago) and found some startling details, according to National Geographic.
The minerals showed that changes in temperature and composition had built up in only a few decades. Until now, scientists believed it would take centuries for the supervolcano to make this transition.
“We expected that there might be processes happening over thousands of years preceding the eruption,” study co-author Christy Till said in an interview with the Times.
If it does blow, the volcano has the ability to expel 1,000 cubic kilometres of ash and rock, which could blanket the United States and possibly send the world into a volcanic winter (volcanic ash and sulphur cutting out sunlight and cooling the Earth’s surface).
The explosion could also be 2,000 times the size of 1980’s eruption of Mount St. Helens, which killed 57 people.
“It’s shocking how little time is required to take a volcanic system from being quiet and sitting there to the edge of an eruption,” study co-author Hannah Shamloo said in the Times article.
The researchers added it’s still too early to determine an exact timeline of when the supervolcano will erupt. (ontinueReading
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