El Chicon is a volcano somewhat near to where the Mayan civilization was so developed and it appears an eruption may have been so mighty it threw the continent or possibly the entire world into a dark age from 540 A.D. and for over a hundred years following. (Scientific American: Volcanic Eruption May Have Plunged the Maya into a “Dark Age”)
Ancient Maya city of Palenque overlooking the coastal plain.
Credit: Wim Hoek
- SA
The research into the basis for the theory of a volcanic cause is highly interesting because they trace the sulfur particles which are emitted in a volcanic eruption and part of that search includes the ice in the poles where such particles will be trapped in a layer of the ice. The pursuit of the evidence in article is extraordinary and the interested student is invited ...
The primary interest in this Ithaka article is regarding the destructiveness of volcanoes and not in terms of their explosive power but rather in the enormous volumes of gases they expel into the atmosphere. The gas is a large part of what caused the Permian Extinction which was globally lethal to just about everything.
The current interest started with yet more blather about a monstrously-large volcano underneath Yellowstone Park and, boy, are we screwed when it blows up. That's the general premise, at least, that everything in a three or four state radius gets obliterated. However, those reports don't seem to relate too much to the gas which would likely be globally devastating.
Here's the latest disaster hypefest uploaded a few weeks ago.
It turns out the video is not new but I used it anyway because of the bad poetry, furiously overdone production, while it also demonstrates the point that gas expelled into the atmosphere is hardly mentioned. There's mention of an ash cloud circling the Earth and causing extensive killing but almost nothing about poisonous gases which were a key part of the large-scale eruption which precipitated the Permian Extinction. (Ithaka: The Permian Extinction and the Relation to Modern Times)
Ed: so what?
The video producers may be deliberately leaving out facts since they can't hype much of a drama if everyone dies. If this volcano erupts then no-one will survive. The End.
The video documenting the Permian Extinction emphasizes the volume of poisonous gas released by a volcano and it's much more literate about it than the gawdy disaster video. One of the gases is SO2 which mixes with water to become sulfuric acid.
Even the Yellowstone volcano doesn't match the volcanic eruption in Siberia which precipitated the Permian Extinction but the effect on the atmosphere from all the gases will be much more than simply making the sky dark and the air cold.
Ed: is there any part of humanity's future you have yet to crush or are you finished?
The purpose isn't to crush anything but rather suggest the approach people take to these sorts of things is not realistic. Likely many dismiss them as 'too distant to matter' and ignore them altogether. Some other subset watches the video for the same titillation as riding roller coasters but really doesn't believe they will be affected.
Maybe it would be better to accept the fact it's going to blow at some point and maybe it would be a good move to prepare better methods to ensure humanity's survival.
Ed: going to space?
That's a roger, Neil Armstrong. If there's any kind of a viable colony, even on Mars, then we have a chance. Assuming an eruption will never happen only guarantees we will get smoked.
Ancient Maya city of Palenque overlooking the coastal plain.
Credit: Wim Hoek
- SA
The research into the basis for the theory of a volcanic cause is highly interesting because they trace the sulfur particles which are emitted in a volcanic eruption and part of that search includes the ice in the poles where such particles will be trapped in a layer of the ice. The pursuit of the evidence in article is extraordinary and the interested student is invited ...
The primary interest in this Ithaka article is regarding the destructiveness of volcanoes and not in terms of their explosive power but rather in the enormous volumes of gases they expel into the atmosphere. The gas is a large part of what caused the Permian Extinction which was globally lethal to just about everything.
The current interest started with yet more blather about a monstrously-large volcano underneath Yellowstone Park and, boy, are we screwed when it blows up. That's the general premise, at least, that everything in a three or four state radius gets obliterated. However, those reports don't seem to relate too much to the gas which would likely be globally devastating.
Here's the latest disaster hypefest uploaded a few weeks ago.
It turns out the video is not new but I used it anyway because of the bad poetry, furiously overdone production, while it also demonstrates the point that gas expelled into the atmosphere is hardly mentioned. There's mention of an ash cloud circling the Earth and causing extensive killing but almost nothing about poisonous gases which were a key part of the large-scale eruption which precipitated the Permian Extinction. (Ithaka: The Permian Extinction and the Relation to Modern Times)
Ed: so what?
The video producers may be deliberately leaving out facts since they can't hype much of a drama if everyone dies. If this volcano erupts then no-one will survive. The End.
The video documenting the Permian Extinction emphasizes the volume of poisonous gas released by a volcano and it's much more literate about it than the gawdy disaster video. One of the gases is SO2 which mixes with water to become sulfuric acid.
Even the Yellowstone volcano doesn't match the volcanic eruption in Siberia which precipitated the Permian Extinction but the effect on the atmosphere from all the gases will be much more than simply making the sky dark and the air cold.
Ed: is there any part of humanity's future you have yet to crush or are you finished?
The purpose isn't to crush anything but rather suggest the approach people take to these sorts of things is not realistic. Likely many dismiss them as 'too distant to matter' and ignore them altogether. Some other subset watches the video for the same titillation as riding roller coasters but really doesn't believe they will be affected.
Maybe it would be better to accept the fact it's going to blow at some point and maybe it would be a good move to prepare better methods to ensure humanity's survival.
Ed: going to space?
That's a roger, Neil Armstrong. If there's any kind of a viable colony, even on Mars, then we have a chance. Assuming an eruption will never happen only guarantees we will get smoked.
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