Will climate change cause Yellowstone to erupt?

As global temperatures continue to climb, forecasts predict the American West will become increasingly arid. Persistent drought in this area could decelerate, and potentially even cease, the famous geyser eruptions of Yellowstone National Park, according to the study's researchers.



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If heat could be bled off of the magma chambers, cooling and solidifying them, not only would that (theoretically) stop the volcano from erupting, but the heat could be used to generate electric power with a geothermal energy plant.

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Temperatures in Europe could be at least 5 degrees cooler the summer after the eruption. The actual effects of a Yellowstone super-eruption could be different depending on the size of eruption, the time of year and any number of other factors.

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Location of past Yellowstone super-eruptions That triggered a dramatic 6- to 10-year global winter and (according to some) may have nearly wiped out the nascent human race. On average, the Earth has seen roughly one super-eruption every 100,000 years, although that's not an ironclad law.

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The report of Yellowstone addresses the following threats: (i) mining activities outside the Park; (ii) brucellosis infection of the bison population; (iii) lake trout invasion; (d) impacts on water quality; (iv) road construction; and (v) regulation of visitor use of the site.

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A: For the most likely type of volcanic eruption in Yellowstone, everywhere would be safe except in the immediate vicinity of the advancing lava flow. In the highly improbable event of a large catastrophic eruption, the great the distance from the eruptive center, the safer it would be.

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Volcanic ash fallout of more than 39.4 inches (one metre) would blanket Yellowstone's immediate vicinity in the states of Wyoming, Montana and Utah. The severity of the blast decreases further out form Yellowstone National Park but extends into Canada, Mexico and the East Coast.

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The Yellowstone supervolcano last erupted about 640,000 years ago. A sleeping giant is nestled in the western part of the United States. Though it stirs occasionally, it has not risen from slumber in nearly 70,000 years.

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