This Is the Way the World Ends? Volcanoes Could Darken World

ABC News ^ | June 6, 2012 | LEE DYE

[presidio9]

Are you worried about the end of life as we know it? Then don't just look to the sky for that catastrophic asteroid that could be heading our way. The end may come from right beneath your feet.

Super-volcanoes have probably caused more extinctions than asteroids. But until now it has been thought that these giant volcanoes took thousands of years to form -- and would remain trapped beneath the earth's crust for thousands more years -- before having much effect on the planet.

But new research indicates these catastrophic eruptions, possibly thousands of times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, may happen only a few hundred years after the volcanoes form. In other words, they may have a very "short fuse," according to researchers at Vanderbilt University.

Such an event could make thermonuclear war or global warming seem trivial, spewing untold tons of ash into the atmosphere to block sunlight. The result would be many years of frigid temperatures, wiping out millions of species. A super-volcano that erupted 250 million years ago is now believed to have created the greatest mass extinction the world has ever seen, wiping out up to 95 percent of all plant and animal species. Some renegade scientists believe it was a volcano, not an asteroid, that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

But is global suicide lurking right below our feet? Is a super-volcano about to blow its top? Not as far as scientists can tell. Such a volcano results from the accumulation of a giant pool of lava just a few miles below the ground, and there is no known formation anywhere on the planet that is expected to erupt in the immediate future.

Scientists, who could be wrong about that,

[Revel]

We are much more likely to be taken out by something man made. Nuclear power plants.

[fr_freak]

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Robert Frost

[presidio9]

And you don't want to know what a cook thinks. ;)

Same thing the bear does, a s'pose.

[presidio9]

[presidio9]

We are much more likely to be taken out by something man made. Nuclear power plants.

Please elaborate.

[RoadGumby]

See post 37 above. /s

[katana]

And between the two of them the physicist is the more correct. Of course, he will also tell you that the "reality" we observe around us only "exists" because we're observing it. Which begs the question, who or what are we? Interesting stuff.

[muawiyah]

Ever notice there are no really old volcanologists? There's a reason for that!

BTW, much more important than this fast trigger situation an earlier report of great concern was that when one of those pools of magma pushes up through cracks in the silicon crust of Earth (yup, place is like one of those big clear marbles with crazing near the surface)the rocks in the way, which were left behind the last time this happened, melt easier than surrounding rocks.

What that means is that where you know there's an ancient extinct volcano ~ maybe deep under ground, or maybe even standing there like that old volcanic core featured in Encounters of the Third King, that will melt before anything else, and boil off and just cause all sorts of volcanic like problems, but mostly it will soften up and let that magma through to ooze out and spread!

I am much less worried about a magma pool that's been squished around by a descending tectonic plate under Oregon than I am about the core of an ancient volcano in Reston VA ~ about 5 miles away!!!

[Revel]

I really don’t need to. There are event worse events than Japan on the horizon. And that one is far from over. There are so many ways that things can go wrong with nuclear power.

But ask yourself this. How many of those power plants are in range of Yellowstone? If such a volcano goes off then those plants will detonate in short order, Spewing radioactive waste far and wide, and there is nothing that man will be able to do about it. The environmental damage from the volcano will be the least of our problems. Even assuming no explosive damage to those plants then think about the logistics of keeping the cooling systems operating in such and environment. Ash falling 100 feet deep(soon to be radioactive ash), zero visibility, Planes unable to fly, Trucks unable to travel, ect...

The insanity of existing nuclear power plants is self evident. The probability of unrecoverable disaster is mathematically certain. Everyone just needs to think a little.

[presidio9]

I really don’t need to.

Sure you do. You can start by telling me what, exactly, was so horrible about Japan.

But ask yourself this. How many of those power plants are in range of Yellowstone? If such a volcano goes off then those plants will detonate in short order,

Um, nuclear power plants don't "detonate," and if a supervolcano erupts (which even this fearmongering author admits is not likely anytime "soon") the power plants will be the leat of our problems.

The insanity of existing nuclear power plants is self evident. The probability of unrecoverable disaster is mathematically certain. Everyone just needs to think a little.

If this passes for logic in your world, I'm surprised you ever leave the house. A plague of killer rabbits is a "mathematical certainty."

[presidio9]

Which begs the question, who or what are we? Interesting stuff.

I was going to address this question, and then the Multiverse took me on a different path. Try back with alternate presidio9.

[Night Hides Not]

Personally I now believe a giant meteor of burning oil will hit a huge CO2-filled super volcano and that will be it.

I'm surprised that Hollywood hasn't made a movie on that premise.

Wait a sec...wouldn't all that CO2 extinguish the flames?

[OB1kNOb]

For anyone whom this might interest, I have a long time friend who was a scientist, teacher, instructor, an NSA synoptic analyst, a certified meteorologist, member of the Israel Geological Society and has been a Baptist pastor for the last 40 years. He has published books back in the 70’s showing scientifically how God can/will use the Earth geologically and meteorologically to accomplish all the horrific end time events of wrath and destruction without having to rely on man’s puny nuclear bombs to devestate the earth in the end times. The vivid descriptions of the end times massive destruction of land, water, atmosphere, and people found in the Bible line up to perfectly describe the effects of shifting faultlines, huge earthquakes, tsunamis, lava flows, massive volcanic eruptions, and terrible meteorological effects upon the Earth’s atmosphere. His contention (and I agree) is that these events will not be caused by an all out man-caused nuclear war, but rather by God using his own creation to carry out his judgement upon the Earth. Food for thought for the serious Christian eschatology student.

[dfwgator]

Even that well-known atheist, George Carlin got it to a degree:

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles…hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages…And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet…the planet…the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!

[evets]

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.
The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.
The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.

LOCUSTS!

[lonevoice]

Ping!

[Revel]

“You can start by telling me what, exactly, was so horrible about Japan.”

It appears that the only sense you have is Non-Sense. If you can honestly say that then it is just a waist of time to discuss any of this with you. You sure are insensitive to the people lives that have been turned upside down over there.

[presidio9]

It appears that the only sense you have is Non-Sense. If you can honestly say that then it is just a waist of time to discuss any of this with you. You sure are insensitive to the people lives that have been turned upside down over there.

I'll do my best not to "waiste" your time, but I can't let this one go.

FYI, the widow of my best friend lives in Japan, and was displaced by the tsunami, but that's not what we're talking about. You brought up the destruction of the Japanese reactors at Fukushima as an example of the horrors of nuclear power, and that is what my question addressed. Now, ANY accident that involves casualties is something to be lamented, but it sounds to me like you don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about. For the record, there were no deaths at Fukushima as a result of the meltdown. Six workers exceeded legal lifetime limits for radiation exposure. Credible estimates for future cancer deaths attributable to the meltdown number from zero to a few dozen, depending on the study. Again, these figures are not to be celebrated, but Fukusima was a worst case scenario, and it simply wasn't as bad as the no-nukes crowd predicted. The ultra-libral NY Times ran a story last fall reiterating this. The anti-nukes crowd was basically salivating over this one, and it turned out to be not such a big deal.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 6/06/2012. Thanks Whenifhow.

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[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks Whenifhow. Note: this topic is from 6/06/2012. Blast from the Past. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.