Something we tend to ignore

Yellowstone, the picturesque and ever popular vacation spot, is a volcano. It isn't like Hawaii where it has huge mountains from lava running and solidifying. It is what is considered a supervolcano. This indicates that when it blows it is so big that there's literally nothing left to solidify.

And it is about to blow. I really believe this.

After reading about such things in the must have book A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson I started watching Yellowstone and for that matter all earthquakes. Have a look for yourself:
Yellowstone area Earthquake list
That list shows, as of the time of this writing, 177 earthquakes. How long would that take? 4 days. 2 hours ago there was a magnitude 3.5 quake. There have been 10 quakes greater than magnitude 3.0 in the past 4 days.

Something down there is awake and is not happy.

So what's the history? Well from what Bryson penned, Yellowstone erupts about every 600,000 years. Its last real eruption? Just over 640,000 years ago. As he said, "We are overdue."

What will happen if it does blow? Reports are grim. Extinctions. A blanket of soot and ash across the earth to cool her down again. Is it related to global warming? Who knows. But if it does blow again we will all need to take cover. Life, as we know it, will cease.

What can be done? Nothing. We must ride the waves on this ocean of life. We can only watch out for the rocks beneath the surface. Have an action plan. Where will you go if something cataclysmic occurs? Short of taking up residence underwater I'm not sure if any plan is good enough. Historically it seems that most aquatic life fares better in times of global upheaval but we are ill equipped for such choices. It seems to me life underwater would have been more studied up to this point. Instead we seek life outside our own atmosphere. Personally I plan to go underground if such an event occurs. Perhaps it will not work. Perhaps the bears, bobcats, and other vermin will have the same plan and simply have me for a midnight snack. But it's a plan.

What's yours?