Question

My question is about the Yellowstone volcano. I have read that this is a supervolcano, and should it blow, it would cause the destruction of the earth. Apparently, it erupts every 160,000 years or so, and it's been 166,000 years since the last eruption, so we are due - either tomorrow, in a hundred years, or perhaps thousands of years. So, I guess my question is, how truly dangerous is this volcano?

The numbers you heard are off: please use Wikipedia as a first reference to get the facts straight. The last three Yellowstone supervolcano eruptions were 2.1, 1.3, and 0.6 million years ago. The average interval is thus about 0.6-0.7 million years, not 160,000 years. The largest of these, the Huckleberry Ridge eruption 2.1 million years ago, blanketed the entire western part of North America with volcanic ash (more than 2000 times the erupted material of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption). However, it certainly did not “destroy the Earth”. It did not even produce an extinction that is detectable in the geologic record. Common sense will show you that this supposed threat of destroying the Earth is not real. Life on Earth is more 4000 million years old, so it is pretty obvious that something that happens every million years or so, like the Yellowstone eruptions, would not destroy the world. With so much misinformation on the Internet, it is essential to learn some skills of critical thinking to deal with the constant rumors of catastrophe. The first step when you hear some dubious rumor should be to consult Wikipedia or some other reliable source. In addition, please remember that anyone who says the world is about to be destroyed is almost surely lying. The Earth and life have been here for more than 4 billion years, and you can be pretty sure it will be here for that long into the future. The only serious threats we know of are global warming and the loss of habitat that is already producing a mass extinction on our planet. These are the global problems we should all be worried about, not volcanoes or comets or any of the cosmic events that seem to be frightening many people these days. Incidentally, I recommend a visit to Yellowstone if you have not done so. Last week the top scientists in the NASA Astrobiology Institute met in Yellowstone. It is a beautiful, fascinating place. And yes, the constant hydrothermal activity (geysers, hot springs, fumaroles) and the swarms of small earthquakes tell you that the volcano is still alive. But there is no reason to think it will erupt in our lifetime, or that of our great great grandchildren.

David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
October 15, 2009