What would happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted?

May 2015 – YELLOWSTONE – If Yellowstone had a super eruption right now; Dr. Jordan says crops would be lost, making it impossible to feed cattle which would die. Grocery store prices would skyrocket as meat, grains and milk would be in short supply. Face masks would be mandatory as breathing in volcanic ash is essentially the same as breathing in small particles of glass. “This is a super volcano eruption. This is the type of thing Yellowstone is capable of.”

“One thing that Yellowstone has taught me is that everything changes so be careful in what you predict and forecast.” In addition to Hank Heasler living on site at Yellowstone, there are monitors and sensors all over the park: measuring ground movement, ground temperature, and the temperature of the water coming from the geysers. All to stay ahead of what’s happening under Yellowstone. Researchers like Hank who study both seismic and volcanic activity here at Yellowstone say they are fairly certain that there will be no type of volcanic eruption here in the foreseeable future. But then we asked Hank to define “foreseeable future.”

“Now what do we mean by foreseeable future? I would say, you know a couple of weeks, and that’s what I would say with certainty.” The mystery here is what happens next. Life here seems to move slow. But geologically, seismically and volcanically things are changing and in motion all the time.  And if you’re in the business of being certain about things like Hank Heasler is, it makes you job very challenging. The people who actively watch this situation seemingly fall into two camps: those who think the Yellowstone volcano will never erupt again and those who think it will happen tomorrow. The truth is no one knows for sure when it will happen again, but the experts we’ve spoken with and several others say it will happen. They say whenever it happens, it will mean hard times for a long time. –KSFY