Saturday 5 January 2013

Supervolcanoes


Last Thursday I watched an interesting documentary about supervolcanoes. This type of volcano doesn't have the typical conical shape; rather, it forms a depression in the ground called "caldera" (a word from Spanish meaning "cauldron" or "boiler"). 

Most of the documentary centred on the active supervolcano situated in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Visitors to the park may not know that its great beauty conceals a ticking time bomb. Were the supervolcano to erupt, the consequences would be catastrophic.

A supervolcano is a lot more powerful than a normal volcano. In fact, experts agree that an eruption would cause a global disaster, followed by massive loss of life. Moreover, the subsequent climate change would affect the world economy and the food supply. Our whole existence would be turned topsy-turvy.

The scary part is that the eruptions of the supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park follow a cycle of approximately 600,000 years, and the next eruption could happen in our lifetime. That, fortunately, seems a remote possibility.

Anyway, be that as it may, I don't see the point in worrying too much. Let's try to enjoy life since we don't really know when it will end. It could be tomorrow or in a thousand years. As the Americans say, that's my two cents.

What would you do in the event of an impending disaster?
Get drunk
Make love all night long
Spend money like there's no tomorrow
Tell my boss to get lost
Search for the nearest bunker
Send an SOS to the aliens
Take it like a man, we all have to die some day
Other

4 comments:

  1. Francisco, you know that information from your article is interesting and very scared at the same time! And I strongly agree with you that we must enjoy life and think positive:))

    MilaI

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's really easy to say be optimistic and enjoy the present but hard to follow it.

    -Felix

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, do you prefer to live the rest of your life worrying without knowing what's going to happen?

      It's more sensible to relax and actually live your life.

      Delete