Animals Leaving Yellowstone National Park: Impending Massive Eruption?

[TurkeyOnRye]

Just read this over. Animals leaving the park should be a serious red flag, especially concurrent with seismic activity. What do you guys think?

http://rt.com/usa/epoch-bison-yellowstone-volcano-909/

 

[SoulDaemon]

If that kettle is gonna blow up, we're totally ******.

 

[metis]

I think the figure I heard yesterday by an expert on earthquakes was that there's roughly a 95% chance that "the Big One" will occur near the coastal area of the West within the next 50 years. As far as Yellowstone is concerned, I haven't seen any estimates, but I do know they feel that somewhere along the line it's gonna happen.

 

[Jainarayan]

If I'm not mistaken, Yellowstone is overdue. Yes, if it blows, we're farked.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Bwahaha - you've gotta love people. I've been to Yellowstone a number of times since the 80's and it's a very common sight to see small herds of bison running along the roads. It's a natural aspect of herd behavior.

 

[Quintessence]

I think that the source of this article and the sources it relies upon are extremely suspect, and that anybody who takes it seriously was not properly instructed in school about how to assess sources of information.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think that the source of this article and the sources it relies upon are extremely suspect, and that anybody who takes it seriously was not properly instructed in school about how to assess sources of information.

Sadly, a description that seems to match the majority of people.

 

[1137]

God I hope this is true.

 

[1137]

I think that the source of this article and the sources it relies upon are extremely suspect, and that anybody who takes it seriously was not properly instructed in school about how to assess sources of information.

Well said. Though it can't hurt to fantasize.

 

[SoulDaemon]

We have a window of opportunity: tomorrow or 10,000 years from now
Heads up!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

God I hope this is true.

You hope it's true that bison have an inside track on the geo-thermal activities below Yellowstone National Park; you hope it's true that bison herds regularly run for a variety of reasons; or you hope that the Yellowstone caldera explodes, plunging the Earth into global catastrophe?

 

[Quintessence]

Sadly, a description that seems to match the majority of people.

I don't know. I'd want to see some data assessing the knowledge-base as it pertains to an applicable sample frame before making such a statement. I'd even take a more limited study regarding information literacy in just the United States. I know it's in the public school curricula, but I also know that sources of information (especially bad information) have exploded since I went through the system and the poor librarians have their work cut out for them. I also know that budget cuts have slashed librarians in particular, and they're normally the ones who give short courses on information science to students. It probably isn't a pretty picture, but I'd want conformation nevertheless.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I don't know. I'd want to see some data assessing the knowledge-base as it pertains to an applicable sample frame before making such a statement. I'd even take a more limited study regarding information literacy in just the United States. I know it's in the public school curricula, but I also know that sources of information (especially bad information) have exploded since I went through the system and the poor librarians have their work cut out for them. I also know that budget cuts have slashed librarians in particular, and they're normally the ones who give short courses on information science to students. It probably isn't a pretty picture, but I'd want conformation nevertheless.

Yeah, I'm basing my opinion on my intuition and my years of experience dealing with countless people who demonstrate little to no ability to differentiate valid information from complete bull hockey. You can look at polls regarding just about any subject to see the effects of this in action. However, I certainly don't have any empirical, quantifiable data indicating how many people this applies to, or to what extent it applies to them. Then again, this isn't really a platform for scientific rigor, but rather an internet forum more suited to personal observations.

 

[Parsimony]

There is that curious side of me that would like to see it blow because mega-eruptions have never been observed firsthand scientifically and because it would probably look awesome. Of course, I would much rather that it didn't because the devastation to climate would cause many people around the world to starve.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't give much thought to this article. The article admits that it only seems to the photographers that the bison are running for their lives, and it states at the bottom there is nothing to indicate an imminent eruption.
I wish I could remember where I found it, but some government site claimed that when that volcano blows, they are going to notify everyone in the park to evacuate. Depending on how big the eruption will be, I would be surprised if they even had a chance to evacuate once it blows.

 

[SoulDaemon]

I don't give much thought to this article. The article admits that it only seems to the photographers that the bison are running for their lives, and it states at the bottom there is nothing to indicate an imminent eruption.
I wish I could remember where I found it, but some government site claimed that when that volcano blows, they are going to notify everyone in the park to evacuate. Depending on how big the eruption will be, I would be surprised if they even had a chance to evacuate once it blows.

no reason to evacuate. The explosion, quake and the following eruption of ash in coming years to the atmosphere will wipe out a lot of people from this planet. At that point, probably, we can kiss our ***** goodbye.

 

[Quintessence]

no reason to evacuate. The explosion, quake and the following eruption of ash in coming years to the atmosphere will wipe out a lot of people from this planet. At that point, probably, we can kiss our ***** goodbye.

A scenario like this extraordinarily unlikely to result in the extinction of the human species. If anything, it will help resolve some of the master problems of these coming generations that we don't have the wisdom to resolve ourselves, as these master problems are all exacerbated by overpopulation.

 

[Valjean]

Bwahaha - you've gotta love people. I've been to Yellowstone a number of times since the 80's and it's a very common sight to see small herds of bison running along the roads. It's a natural aspect of herd behavior.

Impressive. They've not only learned that the roads are easier to run along than natural terrain, but they've learned to keep to the right, as well.
I wonder how they do with traffic signs.

As for the eruption, if the subterranean hotspot were expanding wouldn't we see significant uplift on the surface?

 

[Penumbra]

An eruption of the Yellowstone super-volcano would indeed be a catastrophic global event for civilization and especially North America, but there's virtually zero evidence in that article.

 

[1137]

You hope it's true that bison have an inside track on the geo-thermal activities below Yellowstone National Park; you hope it's true that bison herds regularly run for a variety of reasons; or you hope that the Yellowstone caldera explodes, plunging the Earth into global catastrophe?

The last one.