Earlier this month reports were released about possible volcanic activity in Yellowstone National Park, US.  This park is home to many animals including moose, bison, deer, bears, wolves, coyotes, beavers, eagles and even pelicans and spans across three US states, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.  Aside from the vast size and immense amount of rare and beautiful wildlife and plants, the park is also known for its huge geysers including the most famous, Old Faithful.  These geothermal attractions are actually caused by underground pockets of magma, that is hot molten rock, that flow through the Yellowstone Supervolcano. These pockets were never suspected to lie under such a beautiful landscape, but geothermal satellites launched in the late 20th century discovered this unexpected piece of information.

Now why does all of this concern us?  Minor quakes have been reported in the area, which do happen often, but this time, many of the animals have begun to migrate away from the underground hotspots and geysers.  Often wild animals are a good indicator in many cases of natural disaster strikes; it is just in their natural, biological instincts.  If this supervolcano were to erupt, it would absolutely destroy everything alive within a radius of hundreds of miles from the center of the explosion.  After the initial explosion, dust and volcanic acid ash would spew out for weeks covering almost the entire US and Canada. This would halter all rescue efforts out west, all flights would be grounded, shipping of food and other imports and exports would become minimal, and our entire way of life would be disrupted, even here in New Jersey.  Acid rain would pour down from the skies for months and all drinking water would be contaminated, and therefore have to be filtered.

The probability of this catastrophic event happening has been denounced by many of the scientists in the region who claim that this event should not happen within our lifetime or even our children’s or grandchildren’s lifetimes.  There is actually a US group of scientists who monitor the site constantly and have not picked up any unsettling reports or activity that would lead them to believe an eruption is possible.  They claim that small eruptions and lava leaks occur often to relieve built up pressure and are often not even linked to earthquakes.  On the contrary though, the group is also claiming that volcanoes are some of the hardest natural disasters to predict and that they are making no promises that an eruption will not happen.  Only three other eruptions have occurred within recorded history.  They have occurred 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 640,000 years ago.  These eruptions have shaped the landscape and some of the most prominent features in Yellowstone National Park, showing that although it may be destruction now, an eruption may result to something magnificent in the future.