1.3 billion premature deaths: Scientists give frightening play-by-play of hypothetical Yellowstone supervolcano eruption

It was an explosive model.UK scientists raised alarm bells after drawing up an apocalyptic play-by-play detailing what would happen if the famed Yellowstone supervolcano blew its stack.“A super-eruption on this scale would be a threat to civilization as we know it,” wrote the authors in a recent piece for The Conversation.The volcanic formation, which sits underneath the 30-by-45-mile Yellowstone Caldera, is among the most studied on Earth due to its potential for a supereruption when a volcano ejects over 230 cubic miles of magma, rock and ash.The Yellowstone supervolcano has produced three such events in the past 2.1 million years with the last one occurring 631,000 years ago.

This cataclysmic expulsion snuffed out all life within hundreds of miles of the site, dispersed ash across North America, and caused other effects that were felt worldwide.And while our ancestors had not yet reached the North American continent — and were therefore not there to experience it — some scientists fear that the next eruption could affect human life.To determine the destruction level of such an event, the researchers — led by Ilan Kelman, professor in disasters at University College London and Matthew Blackett, reader in physical geography and natural hazards at Coventry — examined how other countries have dealt with other disasters in recent years.“What follows is a thought experiment into what might happen in the worst case scenario,” they wrote.One month out, seismologists would notice a surge in earthquakes, prompting scientists to raise the alert from “normal’ to “advisory.”This turbulence escalates dramatically three weeks out, with the tremors becoming increasingly shallow while geyser activity becomes more and more erratic.Then, one week later, experts announce an 85-92% probability of a cataclysmic eruption within three weeks, whereupon the volcano alert is raised to “watch.”They would also designate an evacuation zone extending 62 miles ...