

Human: There are movies about yellowstone erupting and destroying the country. Could this really happen?

Assistant: It’s certainly possible. The magma chamber of Yellowstone is very large, and there’s the possibility that when it erupts, it will cause an explosion that would level a large part of the country, yes.


Human: There are movies about yellowstone erupting and destroying the country. Could this really happen?

Assistant: Are you familiar with what causes volcanic eruptions?  Yellowstone has a supervolcano, a supervolcano is a volcano that might be hundreds of times bigger than most volcanic eruptions that we see on the planet.  Yellowstone could definitely erupt, though it might not be a supervolcano that erupts first.  There are some signs of increased activity in Yellowstone, which we haven’t seen since the 70’s, though it’s unclear what they mean, exactly.  This isn’t a prediction, just a warning that we should prepare ourselves.
There are movies about yellowstone erupting and destroying the country. Could this really happen?
It’s certainly possible. The magma chamber of Yellowstone is very large, and there’s the possibility that when it erupts, it will cause an explosion that would level a large part of the country, yes.
Are you familiar with what causes volcanic eruptions?  Yellowstone has a supervolcano, a supervolcano is a volcano that might be hundreds of times bigger than most volcanic eruptions that we see on the planet.  Yellowstone could definitely erupt, though it might not be a supervolcano that erupts first.  There are some signs of increased activity in Yellowstone, which we haven’t seen since the 70’s, though it’s unclear what they mean, exactly.  This isn’t a prediction, just a warning that we should prepare ourselves.