Geologically speaking, is the volcanic hotspot in Yellowstone National Park overdue for an eruption? Its last belch was a lava flow that occurred seventy thousand years ago. The hotspot’s last giant, pyroclastic eruption was six hundred, thirty one thousand years ago. Does that mean it will erupt tomorrow? Today’s geologists believe it is possible, but not probable.

The area’s thermal features were first noted by explorers in the early eighteenth century. In the 1960s, Bob Christiansen from the US Geological Survey realized the source of the geysers and thermal pools in the Yellowstone Caldera was volcanic. It wasn’t until the early 1970s that geologists began using seismic waves to approximate the size of the magma plume underneath the Caldera. Originally thought to be a vast, open chamber of molten rock, recent studies have shown that the magma sits in a large area riddled with solid as well as molten rock, like a volcanic sponge.

While recent evidence points to the unlikelihood of a major eruption, everyone agrees it could be a global catastrophe. Beginning with a pyroclastic flow that could extend for hundreds of miles and billowing clouds of ash with superheated particles shooting into the atmosphere, and ending with a volcanic winter, humanity would struggle to maintain its foothold on the planet.

The eruption of the Yellowstone  supervolcano is not an event over which we should lose any sleep. That being said, it is perhaps wise and prudent to prepare ourselves for a disaster. In our current atmosphere of international tension, nuclear threats, and greater awareness of potentially deadly asteroids skimming close to Earth, we should all have at least the bare minimum in place.

An internet search will bring up innumerable blogs and websites dedicated to survival and disaster preparedness. There are also many books published on the subject. While you may not wish to build a Faraday cage or grow your own toilet paper, it is prudent to be aware of the basic necessities we should have to hand. Keep in mind, a disaster or emergency doesn’t have to be a volcanic eruption or a nuclear bomb, it could be flooding, a tornado, earthquake, power outage, new virus, or severe snowstorm.

Were something to disrupt our Global Supply chain and Society on a greater scale than we have seen to date, would you be ready? Would you be able to hunker down for weeks or months with what you have in your home? It is certainly food for thought.

Image: Author in Yellowstone National Park, 1991