Should I worry about...Supervolcanoes and Magnetic Shift.

Kosmiche · 14 Sep 2011 at 12:19

Supervolcanoes and Magnetic Shift.

Been reading that Bill Bryson book and its worried me a bit, now I wish I'd been left in ignorance, ignorance = bliss. I understand the yellowstone volcano is 28,000 years overdue so does that mean it could pop at any moment or has the rate of eruptions slowed down?

The book didn't go into detail on the shift, not sure if thats of any immediate danger...would anyone like to go into further detail on it so I can understand it more as a layman?

Cheers

G-MAN2004 · 14 Sep 2011 at 12:23

Yes, yes you should be.

I hear magick has a hideout in the West Virginia mountains. You should contact him forthwith.

Edrof · 14 Sep 2011 at 12:24

No, you shouldn't worry. Besides, even if that kind of thing did happen during your life-time, what help is worry?

bsoltan · 14 Sep 2011 at 12:30

The only thing worth worrying about is that you'll miss such an awesome event.

Cosimo · 14 Sep 2011 at 12:32

No point in worrying as there will be nothing left to miss.

Jono8 · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:02

Little point in worrying about seen as there is nothing you can do about it.

Unless you want to devote your life to science and try and find a solution.

Inquizitor · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:04

Are supervolcanoes or magnetic shifts anything you can do anything about? No. So there's no point in worrying anyway.

When people say things like supervolcanoes are "overdue", it paints a picture of a clockwork-regular system which is a straw on a camel's back away from going off. Nature doesn't work like that.

Tephnos · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:05

So what if they happen? I **** bricks as a kid reading about them, but if they happen, they happen.

Just relish in the thought that everyone will die with you.

Efour · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:22

I thought a pole reversal or magnetic shift took a good few million years to happen.. Not a catastrophic event.

panthro · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:25

You're going to die at some point, and if it is by magnetic shift and super volcano eruption, the likelihood is that everyone else will die too, so I wouldnt worry too much about missing out on anything.

Marine Iguana · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:25

Efour2 said:
I thought a pole reversal or magnetic shift took a good few million years to happen.. Not a catastrophic event.

But what about all the boy scouts they need the poles to stay where they are :eek:

we are in for some serious **** if they go missing who will do our knots for us? :eek:

Edrof · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:26

Look at this way: no more Piers Morgan and Louis Walsh, no more politicians and tax, no more thieving banks and bills, no more junkies, ******, rapists and murderers...

...death'll be great

edscdk · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:28

Forde said:
No, you shouldn't worry. Besides, even if that kind of thing did happen during your life-time, what help is worry?

depends if his worry causes him to move to the other side of the world, buy an abandoned mine and stock it with food/water/guns

Amp34 · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:32

Efour2 said:
I thought a pole reversal or magnetic shift took a good few million years to happen.. Not a catastrophic event.

No it happens very quickly...Geologically speaking... It is suggested it takes around 10000 years to do the shift.

Oh and that "overdue" thing is a media fantasy that seems to have been copied from a BBC documentary (the same documentary that invented the term "Supervolcano", it's actually a caldera eruption). In fact we still have about 70ka before it is "overdue"...

EDIT: Here we go... Eruption timings for the current Caldera...

2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago

Now tell me how that equals 28Ka overdue...

Also what was the book called. Bryson has done a number and they are usually quite interesting as they generally contain just enough information to make them factually correct without making it seem like you are reading a textbook or paper...

edscdk · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:32

Eames said:
28,000 years overdue so does that mean it could pop at any moment or has the rate of eruptions slowed down?

you are allive for such a short time in relation to the cycle of this thing the chances its ?80,000? year cycle causing it to pop in the next 1 - 70 years are astronomical

even if it can only last another 1% of the time its already overdue thats another 280 years before end of the world

edscdk · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:34

Amp34 said:
In fact we still have about 70ka before it is "overdue"...

where does that figure come from I thought it was well overdue? i thought the cycle was barely 100k years?

(not saying you are wrong, but interested to correct my own information if you have a source)

Johno please? · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:39

I recommend the book, Risk by Dan Gardner.

Amp34 · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:42

See my edit. The last three Caldera eruptions were 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago. Now if you just add those eruptions together you don't get 28Ka (which is what the BBC program pretended to use. You get closer to around 70Ka into the future.

Now TBH it's all a load of bull**** as you can see from the numbers as it isn't a regular, predictable event anyway, especially considering those eruptions above were just the last caldera of many.

The only way we will know with any certainty is if activity beneath Yellowstone increases massively, something that will be very noticeable I'm sure and will ramp up over a number of Decades or more IMO (certainly not like the 2012 film).

EDIT: Where does your 100ka cycle come from? I've never heard anything like that before and it certainly wouldn't be related to any big eruptions of the Caldera itself (the ones we would need to worry about). Looking at wiki there is a suggestion of a small eruption 70,000 years ago but other than that I dunno.

I may have a look at a few presentations I went to (think I still have the slides somewhere) about more recent activity and see what that says rather than believe Wiki though. I'll report back.

gillywibble · 14 Sep 2011 at 13:45

Milkybk said:
You got scared by a book? Was it a pop up?!