DON’T PANIC: New Study, If Yellowstone Errupted

For the record, the Yellowstone "supervolcano" is not overdue and not poised to erupt. Sorry to disappoint.

But just for fun, a group of scientists decided to run a thought experiment and ask what would happen if it did. Let's have some fun with that.

Appearing on News Nation, Dr. Kayla Iacovino, a planetary volcanologist and principal investigator at the SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center for Research, discusses the science behind the thought experiment.

“It really isn’t so much a study as it is a thought experiment,” Iacovino said. “So, they talk through a potential scenario for what could happen, and it’s a really nice narrative.”

Watch the video interview below.

They think that the eruption itself would not cause the majority of deaths.

This is not total guesswork. They looked at evedence of past eruptions and compared it to today, with humanity living across the planet. The last eruptions were about 600,000 years ago, and before that about a million years ago.

As you might imagine, most of the deaths would occur due to the sun being blacked out for a long period of time. That could cause a long winter and kill crops, causing mass starvation.

The majority of deaths would be caused by inhaling sharp, glass-like volcanic ash that chokes the lungs and mixes with bodily fluids to form a cement-like substance. Beind close to the blast would be bad. But the longer-term results would eventually be felt planet-wide.

While Yellowstone may erupt again, it will probably never have another supereruption. That's what scientists think at this time. But the area is one of the most active on the planet, and they are studying it all the time. In fact, it is one of the most researched areas on the planet.