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00:05It was April 2025 when geologists went back to Yellowstone's Norris Geyser Basin for the
00:11first time this year.
00:13And while doing their usual check, they realized that something was different this time.
00:18Where there used to be just a boring patch of ground, now there was a giant hole, about
00:2513 feet wide, filled with weird, milky, light blue water.
00:30Everyone was terrified.
00:31Was it the sign that the Yellowstone supervolcano was ready to erupt?
00:36If so, it would be a worldwide disaster, the kind that destroys cities.
00:42According to the U.S. Geological Survey, if such an eruption occurred, the after-effects
00:48would be felt all over the world.
00:50To start, the areas immediately surrounding Yellowstone would experience pyroclastic flows.
00:56That's the lava that erupts out of a volcano.
01:00Including a high-density mix of volcanic gas, ash, pumice, and hot lava blocks.
01:06Those flows would destroy everything they touch.
01:09And an eruption of Yellowstone would send them into Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.
01:16Areas further away from Yellowstone would escape the flows.
01:19But they would experience falling ash.
01:22It would come down heavily in the states closest to the epicenter.
01:26The ash would be especially dangerous for anyone breathing it in.
01:30The weight of the ash would also pose a serious threat.
01:34It would smother crops and collapse buildings as it piles up.
01:38Tragic consequences would be countless.
01:41But we'll talk about them later.
01:43Because soon after the discovery, the weird pit surprised even experts.
01:48Geologists found rocks scattered everywhere.
01:51Some were about a foot across.
01:53And all of them were dusted with gray mud.
01:56This mud matched the walls of the new spring.
02:00It was like the place had simply exploded.
02:02But nobody had actually seen it happen.
02:05The team checked old satellite images to figure out when it appeared.
02:10In December 2024, the ground was totally normal.
02:14By January 6, 2025, a little dip had formed.
02:19And by February 13, that water-filled hole was finally there.
02:24But the weird thing was that the sensors that usually pick up major hydrothermal explosions
02:30didn't detect anything.
02:32There was no giant blast or warning signs.
02:35Later, it turned out that this puzzling opening in the ground hadn't just popped up in one huge explosion.
02:42Instead, it formed from a bunch of smaller bursts over time.
02:46Little explosions first threw out rocks, then mud, and eventually created the pit.
02:52With time, it filled with silica-rich water.
02:56That was a huge relief for everyone.
03:00Yellowstone sits on a supervolcano.
03:02And its big explosions are a nightmare scenario.
03:05Luckily, this time, it was just a slow-building, small-scale explosion.
03:11It was dramatic, sure, but totally manageable.
03:15You see, Yellowstone National Park is full of geysers, hot springs, and all kinds of natural landscapes.
03:21But under the surface, things get incredibly intense.
03:26All because of the supervolcano.
03:28Now, supervolcanoes are often extremely large.
03:32They often have no cone at all, since they're typically the remains of gigantic magma chambers.
03:39Once, those chambers flared up, leaving behind a caldera.
03:44They're usually located over hot spots.
03:46It's no surprise that supervolcanoes can produce supereruptions.
03:50And when they do it, they blow more than 240 cubic miles of ash, molten rock, and hot gases up
03:59into the air.
04:00In other words, four supereruptions could fill the Grand Canyon to the brim.
04:06Supervolcanoes form when huge volumes of scorching hot magma escape from deep underground.
04:12This magma rises close to the surface, but can't break through Earth's crust.
04:17So, a pressurized pool of bubbling magma gathers at a depth of only several miles.
04:24The pressure keeps growing, because more and more magma is trying to get to the surface.
04:29And then, bang, a supereruption occurs.
04:33Now, back in 2015, researchers at the University of Utah mapped out the main magma chamber of the Yellowstone supervolcano
04:41and were shocked by its size.
04:44And then, they found another one below it.
04:47Together, these underground magma pools could hold enough molten rock to fill the Grand Canyon 11 times.
04:55All that magma pushes up on the ground above, which is why Yellowstone rises about an inch or two every
05:02year.
05:03That slow lift might not sound like much, but combine it with the fact that Yellowstone is still an active
05:10volcano and has a volcanic explosivity index of 8,
05:15and it's enough to make you wonder what could happen if things went south.
05:19And yes, Yellowstone has indeed been a bit jumpy in recent years.
05:25In March 2023, there were 354 earthquakes in the area.
05:30Most were tiny, but the biggest hit a magnitude 3.7, part of a swarm of 106 quakes.
05:37Now, before you freak out, experts from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory say there's no need to panic.
05:45No eruption is coming anytime soon.
05:48Volcanoes don't stick to a schedule.
05:50Just because Yellowstone hasn't erupted in a long time doesn't mean it's about to blow.
05:56The park is stable, for now.
05:58But scientists are keeping a close eye on everything underground.
06:03The quakes, the rising ground, and even temperature changes, just to be safe.
06:08The super-hot plume of magma, a hotspot under Yellowstone, has been churning for 17 million years.
06:17The Earth's crust slowly moved over it, making the hotspot leave a trail of volcanoes stretching more than 450 miles
06:25along the Snake River plain.
06:27Most of those ancient ones are now buried under layers of lava and sediment.
06:32In just the past 2.1 million years, Yellowstone has unleashed three cataclysmic eruptions.
06:40So massive, they managed to reshape the land.
06:43Each explosion sent pyroclastic flows, rivers of searing hot rock, ash, and pumice, racing outward for miles.
06:52The debris piled up in layers hundreds of feet thick, some forming solid, lava-like rock.
06:58When those eruptions emptied the underground magma chambers, the roof collapsed, forming the massive calderas we see today.
07:06Even after those mega-eruptions, Yellowstone didn't stop.
07:11Between 180,000 and 70,000 years ago, enormous rhyolite lava flows, sometimes over 144 cubic miles, poured out.
07:23Some flows followed north-south vent lines.
07:25The West Yellowstone flow erupted around 110,000 years ago.
07:30The Nez Perez Creek flow followed 160,000 years ago.
07:35If you stand at Madison Junction, on the caldera's northwest rim, you can see it.
07:41A cliff that formed when the Lava Creek Tough eruption collapsed the land 640,000 years ago.
07:49And inside the caldera, you'll see the hardened lava flows snaking across the floor.
07:55Figuring out when a supervolcano might blow is like being able to read nature's warning signals.
08:02Thousands of years before a massive eruption, the heat underground starts building,
08:07and the magma chambers become like ticking pressure cookers.
08:11Little signs start showing up.
08:13Gas bubbles escape as the pressure shifts, and earthquakes shake the ground.
08:18The land above slowly rises.
08:21Cracks appear.
08:22Hot springs and geysers start acting up, heating even more than usual.
08:28Now, what would happen if Yellowstone erupted?
08:30Remember those pyroclastic flows we talked about before?
08:34They can contain two parts.
08:37The lower flow of the hot lava that moves at ground level,
08:40and a cloud of ash that follows above the lava level.
08:44So, the two of them would devastate huge areas.
08:48The ash would even reach Europe within 3-4 days of the eruption.
08:52But it wouldn't be so bad there.
08:54After that, it would only take around 2-3 weeks before cooler temperatures set in around the globe,
09:01all thanks to the sulfur gas that would get to the upper atmosphere after the eruption.
09:07Scientists predict that global temperatures would drop by up to 10-12 degrees.
09:13These consequences could last for 6-10 years,
09:16putting an end to monsoons, which could cause widespread famine in Asia.
09:22Scared?
09:22Well, don't be.
09:24The good news is that scientists don't believe
09:27that the sleeping giant under Yellowstone National Park will wake up in our lifetime.
09:33Experts say the next Yellowstone eruption won't likely happen for hundreds of thousands of years.
09:39And even then, it may not be that bad,
09:42because scientists have discovered that the magma lurking within Yellowstone
09:46is actually split up amongst four different chambers.
09:50Not only that, but some of the reservoirs of magma are likely to cool down and solidify,
09:57lessening the chances of an eruption.
10:00So, while an eruption does sound like it would change the landscape of the world,
10:04it's very unlikely to happen any time soon.
10:14It's official.
10:15We now know the exact location and timing of the Yellowstone supervolcano's next eruption.
10:22And it's called a supervolcano for a reason.
10:25It will be thousands of times more powerful than a typical volcanic eruption.
10:30When this happens, the planet will face massive disasters.
10:34Earthquakes, tons of magma flows,
10:37ash and clouds that will block out the sun.
10:39The sky will be gray for a long time.
10:42We will have a shortage of food because of the lack of sunlight.
10:46Planes won't be able to fly.
10:48Some species of animals and trees may disappear.
10:52One disaster will follow another, like falling dominoes, one by one.
10:57Terrible times await Earth, and...
10:59Okay, stop.
11:00It's clear.
11:01We got it.
11:02But when will all this happen?
11:04Don't worry.
11:05You won't be left without an answer.
11:08When ordinary volcanoes erupt, it's always a disaster.
11:11But only for those places that are located near the epicenter.
11:15Multiply the damage from an ordinary volcano by thousands,
11:18and you'll get a supervolcano eruption.
11:21Yellowstone is one of the largest volcanic systems in the world.
11:25It's erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years.
11:29The last time was 640,000 years ago.
11:32The ash covered an area comparable to about half of the United States.
11:37Fortunately, there were no people there.
11:40But nature got hurt.
11:42A similar eruption of a similar supervolcano occurred about 74,000 years ago.
11:48It was the Toba supervolcano in Indonesia that caused an apocalypse.
11:52The human race barely managed to survive.
11:55According to some theories,
11:57only a few thousand people stayed alive at the time during the volcanic winter.
12:01But it's not confirmed.
12:03Since Yellowstone is a volcanic system located in a vast national park,
12:08it was important for scientists to find out exactly where the first spark would come from.
12:13They found out that Yellowstone's magma doesn't accumulate in one place,
12:18but hides in several separate underground reservoirs.
12:21The reservoir in the northeast of Yellowstone,
12:24next to a beautiful place called Sour Creek Dome, is the riskiest.
12:29Here, the red-hot magma comes into contact with the hot rocks of the mantle,
12:34which are located deep in the ground.
12:36Their high temperature keeps the magma in a liquid state.
12:40Imagine that you put a pot of hot milk on the stove.
12:43Nothing cools down, but only gets hotter,
12:45so the milk may soon begin to rise and flow out of the pan.
12:49The same thing is happening with the magma under Sour Creek Dome.
12:54Magma doesn't cool down there, and at some point, it may start to come out.
12:59It'll be like a broken pipe from which a fountain of boiling water gushes.
13:03But how did scientists find out?
13:06The magma reservoirs are located at a depth of about 6 miles,
13:10and this whole area is incredibly hot.
13:13They used a special method called magnetotellurics.
13:18So, Earth's rotating core creates a magnetic field that surrounds our planet.
13:23Magma flows around the core,
13:25and it contains many magnetic minerals that also create magnetic fields.
13:30Scientists use special instruments that sense those fields emanating from the magma,
13:35like a metal detector senses lost jewelry on the beach.
13:39Using magnetotellurics, they scanned Yellowstone and discovered four large magma reservoirs.
13:45Three of them emitted powerful electromagnetic waves,
13:48and in the fourth, which is in the northeast,
13:51they recorded a much stronger signal from the magnetic field.
13:55This is where the eruption is supposed to occur.
13:58But fortunately, it won't happen soon.
14:01Perhaps in tens of thousands of years.
14:03Perhaps in hundreds.
14:05Phew!
14:06You can relax.
14:07No volcanic apocalypse is coming soon.
14:10But how do scientists know when this magma will start to erupt?
14:14Magma doesn't have a timer, and the volcano doesn't wake up with an alarm clock.
14:19So, magma flows inside the pores of solid rock.
14:23It resembles a dishwashing sponge with lots of small holes through which water passes.
14:29Magma penetrates these pores and fills them.
14:32For magma to start erupting outward, it must fill at least 40% of these pores.
14:38About 20% of them are filled now.
14:41But these hot rocks continue to heat the magma and keep it liquid,
14:44so it can flow between the pores.
14:47At some point, it will connect with other pools of the liquid magma
14:51and become a large stream that will rise to the top.
14:55How can we prevent this from happening?
14:58It seems that the solution here is to cool the balsam rocks.
15:02But it's impossible to do so.
15:04They are several miles deep, they are incandescent, and there are too many of them.
15:10And in any case, trying to cool a part of the Earth's core sounds like a very bad idea.
15:16All we can do is accept that nature has its own plans.
15:20If the eruption occurs in tens or hundreds of thousands of years,
15:24then perhaps humanity will find a way to solve this problem.
15:28If not, then we should prepare for the consequences.
15:32A huge global catastrophe starts with a massive, large-scale explosion.
15:37The erupting magma produces a gigantic amount of ash.
15:41A powerful burst of energy collapses the Earth's crust over the magma reservoir.
15:47This leads to the formation of a giant caldera.
15:51You've probably seen a huge crater in a volcano.
15:54So, this is the caldera.
15:57The natural disaster is so loud, it deafens everyone who is nearby.
16:02The blast wave rises ash and pumice stone at a speed exceeding the speed of sound.
16:07Volcanic materials reach incredibly high altitudes in minutes.
16:12Then, this pillar of ash spreads and plunges a huge territory into darkness.
16:18The incandescent particles in the lower part fall under their own weight and heat the air around them.
16:24It's almost impossible to breathe.
16:26The red-hot pieces of pumice stone and ash set fire to the surroundings.
16:31All this hot mass turns into pyroclastic flows that destroy and burn everything in their path.
16:38Forests, houses, roads, everything turns into coal.
16:44No planes can fly there.
16:46Tiny particles can penetrate engines.
16:48Besides, it's impossible to see through such a dark gray, hot cloud.
16:53It's also dangerous to drive cars.
16:56Volcanic particles can burn tires.
16:58Luckily, thanks to seismic technologies, people have learned in advance about the eruption.
17:04So, everybody has evacuated.
17:07The column of ash that has reached the edge of space continues to expand in different directions.
17:12The wind helps the volcanic dust expand.
17:16A giant umbrella-like cloud appears over the territory of Yellowstone.
17:21It's getting wider and wider and plunges a huge area into hot darkness.
17:27During the first 24 hours, ash falls on most of the United States and parts of Canada.
17:33It knocks out power lines, pollutes bodies of water, and destroys crops.
17:39Then, the rains begin.
17:41The water mixes with the ash and falls to the ground in the form of gray mud.
17:46And don't forget, it's also poisonous.
17:50The ash contains mercury, arsenic, and lead in large quantities.
17:54Such toxic masses poison rivers, lakes, land, and air.
17:58All this time, the volcano continues to erupt.
18:02The outbursts of magma, ash, and pumice can last for several weeks or even a month.
18:07And this is just the beginning.
18:10The ash soon begins to settle, but the sulfur dioxide released during the eruption spreads all over the atmosphere.
18:17This gas mixes with the atmospheric water vapor and forms an aerosol consisting of small particles.
18:23All this covers the planet like a veil.
18:26This cap makes it difficult for the sun's rays to pass through,
18:30which means it lowers the temperature of the Earth's surface.
18:34These events cause a sharp cooling of several degrees in the world.
18:39Farmers lose a huge amount of their crops.
18:41Food prices rise, and economies collapse.
18:45There might be a famine all over the planet.
18:48Human civilization can plunge into chaos.
18:52In a few years, the temperature will start rising.
18:55But it will take at least a couple of decades to return to previous standards.
19:00What will become of humanity by that time?
19:02Of course, we will survive.
19:05But we'll have to rebuild our civilization.
19:08But don't be afraid.
19:09If nothing depends on us, let's just enjoy every day of life.
19:13Be grateful and help each other.
19:16Supporting and caring for each other even during the volcanic winter is a guarantee that humanity will survive.
19:28One day, vast grasslands started to open.
19:32Clouds of volcanic gas and ash rose into the sky.
19:36Flows of lava streamed down the hills and across the plains.
19:40Within minutes, black volcanic glass started to rain from above, wiping out animals, crushing plants.
19:47It didn't take long before the land caved in, opening giant pits filled with red-hot magma.
19:55Not so long ago, there have been some curious changes in water levels in different parts of Yellowstone Lake.
20:02The water level could be rising on one side of the lake and falling on the other at the same
20:07time.
20:07It looked as if the lake basin was getting lifted by some underground forces.
20:13Is it a sign of a looming disaster?
20:15Is the Yellowstone supervolcano ready to erupt?
20:19Let's figure it out.
20:22Geysers, mudpots, and hot springs turn Yellowstone National Park into some extraterrestrial world.
20:28And all these wonders are fueled by a mighty supervolcano.
20:32Such volcanoes produce super eruptions.
20:35When it happens, about 240 cubic miles of ash, molten rock, and hot gases get launched up into the air.
20:44In other words, four super eruptions could fill the Grand Canyon to the brim.
20:50Supervolcanoes appear when huge volumes of magma are trying to escape from deep underground.
20:56Eventually, they burst through the Earth's surface.
20:59Sometimes, all this magma gets stuck, unable to break through the planet's crust.
21:03And then, massive pools of pressurized magma gather at a depth of several miles.
21:10The pressure keeps growing because more and more magma is trying to get to the surface.
21:15At one point, a super eruption goes off.
21:19The Yellowstone giant was thought to be responsible for at least three enormous eruptions and countless smaller ones.
21:26In that region, the volcanic deposits are scattered over tens of thousands of miles.
21:32Scientists believe that they had been created by many weak eruptions.
21:37But after doing some more research, experts found out that these deposits could have been left by a previously unknown
21:43super eruption that took place about 8.7 million years ago.
21:49A year before that event, Yellowstone gave a warning.
21:53But that, long ago, there was no one who could interpret these signals.
21:57Plus, those alarming processes were mostly going on underground.
22:02For example, decompression released gas bubbles.
22:06While bursting, such bubbles can often power particular kinds of eruptions.
22:11Months before the eruption, small-scale earthquakes became more frequent and more intense.
22:17The ground in many spots all over the super volcano got hotter than it used to be.
22:22Surface lakes and groundwater also became warmer.
22:25If people had been around at that time, they would have noticed unusual steam fogging that area.
22:31Experts think it was the greatest eruption of the Yellowstone Super Volcano.
22:36This giant, which is actually one of the largest active volcanic systems on our planet, wasn't named Super Volcano for
22:43nothing.
22:44There have been at least three other super eruptions in the history of the Yellowstone Volcano.
22:49They happened 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago.
22:56They were 6,700, and 2,500 times more powerful than the devastating eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington
23:04State in 1980.
23:06The most recent super eruption was dubbed the Lava Creek eruption.
23:11It formed the Yellowstone Caldera after spewing out 240 cubic miles of rock, dust, and volcanic ash.
23:20By the way, if the Yellowstone Super Volcano went off with as much power as it had 2.1 million
23:25years ago,
23:26it would spit out so much boiling lava, it would be enough to fill Sydney Harbor 4,500 times.
23:35Scientists believe that the area around the Yellowstone Volcano used to face a super eruption every half a million years.
23:42But over the last 3 million years, the hotspot has seen only two super eruptions.
23:47It makes scientists believe these catastrophic events are slowing down.
23:52But back to the main question.
23:54Are we about to face another super eruption in the nearest future?
23:58It would be a catastrophic event.
24:01A massive column of lava and ash would rise into the air up to a height of over 16 miles.
24:08After that, the volcano would keep pumping ash for days on end.
24:13Such a mixture of lava, ash, and gas would be immensely hot.
24:17Moreover, it would also move around at a speed of 300 miles per hour.
24:22The air near the center of the eruption would heat up to 570 degrees Fahrenheit.
24:29When the ash got into the stratosphere, the temperatures all over the world would drop.
24:34In the worst case scenario, the eruption would be very rich in sulfur.
24:38And since this substance is an effective sunblocker,
24:41the temperatures would get so low that there would be no summer in the world for the next several years.
24:48The seasons would change.
24:50Agriculture would face serious problems.
24:52The disaster would create disruptions in food supplies.
24:56The Federal Emergency Management Agency has estimated that the potential damage
25:01would make about $3 trillion in the U.S. alone.
25:05But the good news is that scientists think that the Yellowstone supervolcano
25:10doesn't present any danger at the moment.
25:13For an eruption to happen, the magma inside has to be at least 50% molten.
25:18With Yellowstone, this number is just 5 to 15%.
25:23Which means that the probability of the eruption is 1 in 730,000.
25:29This probably is almost the same as the probability of a big asteroid crashing into Earth.
25:35Even better, a recent study made the researchers believe
25:38the hotspot might be in a state of decline right now.
25:42Even despite all the unusual activity going on there.
25:47Still, there have been tons of discussions about what people could do
25:51to prevent the disastrous supereruption from happening.
25:54And the most popular and seemingly effective idea
25:57was to cool the Yellowstone supervolcano down.
26:00Unfortunately, there's a catch.
26:03The volcano leaks out only 70% of the heat coming from its magma-filled chambers.
26:09But the rest of the heat stays inside.
26:11As soon as it reaches a particular threshold, the volcano will erupt.
26:16If it was possible to extract at least 35% of the Yellowstone volcano's heat,
26:22the eruption could be avoided.
26:23The cooler the magma is, the thicker and stickier it gets.
26:27It stops being so fluid and doesn't try to get to the surface anymore.
26:33After considering these facts, NASA scientists came up with a plan.
26:37They suggested drilling a 6-mile deep well and pumping down cold, pressurized water.
26:42The temperature of the water that would get back to the surface
26:45would be approximately 662 degrees Fahrenheit.
26:49This way, the heat would be gradually extracted from the volcano.
26:54And if a geothermal plant was built on the site, it would generate plenty of electric power.
26:59It would be very simple to produce, and its price would be very nice.
27:04About 10 cents per kilowatt hour.
27:07Sounds like a great plan.
27:08Are there any drawbacks?
27:10Unfortunately, yeah.
27:12Let's say you're drilling a well to deliver cold water to the volcano.
27:16And then, you accidentally hit its magma chamber.
27:19In this case, instead of cooling the giant down,
27:22you make the top of the magma chamber much more fragile than it used to be.
27:26And the whole construction will be at risk of collapsing at any moment.
27:31And don't forget that this drilling may also release toxic gases.
27:34They often accumulate at the top of the reservoir with magma.
27:38Or, imagine drilling through Earth's crust, getting deeper and deeper.
27:43And then, wham! Bam!
27:45You hit a hypothermal pocket.
27:48Uh-oh.
27:49Get ready for a catastrophe.
27:51This can release gases that are likely to cause a series of super-powerful blasts.
27:56In the worst-case scenario, it may even trigger a full-scale volcanic eruption.
28:02But the worst thing?
28:03The project would last for thousands of years.
28:06Up to 16,000!
28:07The problem is that by using this method,
28:10you can't cool the volcano faster than at a rate of 3 feet a year.
28:14On top of that, scientists aren't 100% sure that when they finish this project,
28:20the volcano will stay cold for at least 100 years.
28:25Yellowstone isn't the only super-volcano on Earth.
28:28Check out the list.
28:29It includes the Long Valley Caldera in California,
28:33the Atana ignimbrite in Chile,
28:36Toba in Indonesia,
28:37Taupo in New Zealand,
28:39and so on.
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