The supervolano located beneath Yellowstone National Park could erupt sooner than expected, according to the latest research.
The eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would cover most of America in ash and potentially create a catastrophic volcanic winter across the entire planet. Scientists at Arizona State University just released findings that suggest shifts in temperature and composition that formerly took centuries to occur are now happening over a period of decades.
These findings come just a few years after researchers from the University of Utah announced that the magma reservoir under Yellowstone had expanded by approximately 10 inches in just seven years, an extraordinary increase.
Flickr/TIm Lumely
Flickr/Michael Matti
When it erupts, the supervolcano could spew more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of rock and ash into the atmosphere. That would be 2,500 times more volcanic material than the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.
Flickr/TIm Lumely
Flickr/Michael Matti
Luckily, most researchers still don’t expect the volcano to blow its top any time soon. However, this new data does suggest a shorter timeline for the next eruption than previously posited.
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