Fwd: Thar she blows again...
Frances Morey
frances_morey@yahoo.com
Mon Feb 16 22:32:09 2004
--0-1615378293-1076988691=:99548
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I once heard an interesting theory--that the reason mammals survived the first astroid catastrophy and the dinasaurs perrished is because the mammals were able to eat energy stored in nuts through the sunless years.
FM
Jim McCulloch <mcculloch@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
Frances,
Interesting article.
Worry about the Yellowstone supervolcano is kind of like worrying
about an asteroid or comet impact--such a disaster will probably end
human civilization, if not human life, when it happens, but there is
not much anyone can do about it. Actually, we could protect most of
the human population against supervolcano and asteroid nuclear winter
scenarios by storing maybe a decade's worth of food for 6 billion
people, and keeping such a store on hand at all times. Obviously, the
likelihood of our doing this is small.
According to USGS web sites, the geologically recent blasts of the
yellowstone hotspot have occurred at intervals of 800 thousand and
660 thousand years. The most recent one was 640 thousand years ago.
All you can say, statistically, from this is that another blast could
occur in a few days, a few thousand years, or never. The sample size
is too small for to make predictions from.
The USGS thinks the most likely type of volcanic eruption in
Yellowstone will not be one of the huge supervolcano explosions, but
a hydrothermal eruption that might blow out a hole big enough to make
a small lake. Several of these occur during any given 10,000 year
interval.
Oddly enough, most of the survivalists who expect to live through the
end of human civilization have built their bunkers in Idaho, Wyoming,
or Montana, such that if the supervolcano does blow for real, they
will all be buried under the ash.
Best regards,
--Jim McCulloch
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online
--0-1615378293-1076988691=:99548
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
<DIV>I once heard an interesting theory--that the reason mammals survived the first astroid catastrophy and the dinasaurs perrished is because the mammals were able to eat energy stored in nuts through the sunless years.</DIV>
<DIV>FM<BR><BR><B><I>Jim McCulloch <mcculloch@mail.utexas.edu></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Frances,<BR><BR>Interesting article.<BR><BR>Worry about the Yellowstone supervolcano is kind of like worrying <BR>about an asteroid or comet impact--such a disaster will probably end <BR>human civilization, if not human life, when it happens, but there is <BR>not much anyone can do about it. Actually, we could protect most of <BR>the human population against supervolcano and asteroid nuclear winter <BR>scenarios by storing maybe a decade's worth of food for 6 billion <BR>people, and keeping such a store on hand at all times. Obviously, the <BR>likelihood of our doing this is small.<BR><BR>According to USGS web sites, the geologically recent blasts of the <BR>yellowstone hotspot have occurred at intervals of 800 thousand and <BR>660 thousand years. The most recent one was 640 thousand years ago. <BR>All you can say, statistically, from this is that another blast could <BR>occur in a
few days, a few thousand years, or never. The sample size <BR>is too small for to make predictions from.<BR><BR>The USGS thinks the most likely type of volcanic eruption in <BR>Yellowstone will not be one of the huge supervolcano explosions, but <BR>a hydrothermal eruption that might blow out a hole big enough to make <BR>a small lake. Several of these occur during any given 10,000 year <BR>interval.<BR><BR>Oddly enough, most of the survivalists who expect to live through the <BR>end of human civilization have built their bunkers in Idaho, Wyoming, <BR>or Montana, such that if the supervolcano does blow for real, they <BR>will all be buried under the ash.<BR><BR>Best regards,<BR><BR>--Jim McCulloch<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><p><hr SIZE=1>
Do you Yahoo!?<br>
Yahoo! Finance: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=22055/*http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html">Get your refund fast by filing online</a>
--0-1615378293-1076988691=:99548--