NASA Reveals Plan to Prevent Yellowstone Supervolcano Eruption
The Yellowstone National Park is home to a massive supervolcano that could potentially threaten life on Earth if it were to erupt. However, the NASA has recently unveiled a plan to prevent such an eruption from happening. Supervolcanoes are different from regular volcanoes due to their large magma chambers. When they erupt, they can spew out at least 1,000 cubic kilometers of lava. The magma chamber of the supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park is approximately 60 kilometers long, 40 kilometers wide, and contains about 15,000 cubic kilometers of magma. Geologists have been closely monitoring this volcano as its eruption could trigger a long volcanic winter and threaten life on Earth.
NASA scientists have proposed a solution to prevent the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. They suggest continuously cooling the supervolcano. One theoretical possibility is to pump fresh water into the mountain and pour it into the volcano. However, this option is not practical and poses high risks. Brain Wilcox, a researcher at NASA, is currently working on a different solution. He proposes drilling into the Yellowstone supervolcano to install a powerful geothermal power plant that would slowly cool the volcano. This power plant would gradually extract heat from the ground until the magma chamber is cooled enough to no longer pose a threat.
However, this new idea has a catch. If something goes wrong during the drilling process and the magma chamber becomes unstable, it could trigger the very eruption that the project aims to prevent. Despite this risk, the researchers emphasize that action must be taken as ignoring the issue could lead to dire consequences. Convincing scientists, researchers, and politicians to take on this century-long project will require a lot of effort. Nonetheless, it is crucial to find a long-term solution to prevent the threat posed by the approximately 20 supervolcanoes on Earth.
