Really Huff Po? People are already doing this, and they aren't coming up with anything concrete other than time frames in the scale of thousands of years. Asteroids are different because it might require a more global effort between the space faring nations. Spotting asteroids is fairly doable, moving them off track with a craft via the gravity-assist method is also feasible and doable with a little money thrown at it. But preventing a super volcano is entirely different, assuming anyone could even predict one, I doubt we could stop it. With asteroids we're simply deflecting/redirecting a rock in space, if we somehow figure out how to predict and stop a volcano we're messing with an extremely natural and fundamental process of our planet. FEMA does have plans for a Yellowstone Caldera eruption, scientists are studying it and have instruments all over the place that measure and log the heaving of the Earth throughout the caldera, and they still don't have any solid predictions. Hell, a couple years ago the ground heaved up about 10 feet, and earthquakes started happening almost every hour for a couple days, then it just completely stopped. Problem with measuring and figuring out how super volcanoes work is we're going to have to measure one actually erupting to be able to correlate the data and changes that lead up to it to be able to predict it, but by then it's too late. Right? I mean, we can't even predict small volcanoes that are in active cycles yet, and everyone is different from each other. Comparing this to asteroids is silly, two very different threats.prevent a supervolcanic eruption.
We must attempt to understand whether supervolcanic eruptions occur in any recognizable pattern on geologic time scales so that we can roughly estimate when we should expect the next major eruption.
You can direct your incredulity at me. I've been getting a really polarized response from this post, so I expected the same here. I think we can predict one - there was a study in Nature last year that concluded that major recognizable growth patterns occur within a caldera decades before an eruption. If that's the case we need to do more research to figure out how well this applies to all volcanoes historically. And I just don't understand the thought process that since supervolcanoes are so massive that we should just forever live in fear of them. I mean, if we are going to stay on this planet long-term we are going to have to deal with them eventually. I think we should try and figure out if there is any way to diffuse major eruptions, or change their eruption pattern, or perhaps reduce the size and duration of the eruption. There must be some preventative measure we can take - perhaps drilling beneath the caldera itself to release pressure or something like this. I'm not saying that we should stop all volcanoes from erupting... of course that is a natural and fundamental aspect of our planet. But supervolcanoes would destroy civilization. We don't need supervolcanoes for the planet to be ecologically stable... in fact supervolcanoes are ecologically disruptive. There must be a way to diffuse major eruptions and I think we should try and figure out if there is. That's crazy! I had no idea! (and scary!) What they have in common is that they are A) both global and B) both major threats to the stability of human civilization. So that's why I compared them.Really Huff Po?
But preventing a super volcano is entirely different, assuming anyone could even predict one, I doubt we could stop it.
if we somehow figure out how to predict and stop a volcano we're messing with an extremely natural and fundamental process of our planet.
Hell, a couple years ago the ground heaved up about 10 feet, and earthquakes started happening almost every hour for a couple days, then it just completely stopped.
Comparing this to asteroids is silly, two very different threats.
Wow, sorry didn't even notice you wrote that! I was a little ways into a bottle of wine and feeling a bit surly last night. My apologies. I can completely agree with the sentiment that we should be doing more, just didn't like the simplification and comparison to asteroids.
I'm sure volcanology as a whole is underfunded - but regular volcanoes don't threaten civilization. Some VEI-6 or VEI-7 volcanoes could seriously threaten the safety of large regions though and global agriculture -- depending on where they erupted.
I get that, but if most countries in volcanically active regions don't have good plans or programs for dealing with even localized eruptions, how can the world be expected to be well prepared for eruptions of supervolcanoes? Granted, the countries I'm thinking of are mostly countries that are not wealthy and do not have good track records in dealing with natural disasters period.
I'm trying to argue that we need an internationally organized entity that will deal with mitigation and, if possible, prevention strategies for dealing with supervolcanoes. It wouldn't be one country - I think it would require too much research.