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[Zanzetkuken The Great]

I thought the big threat with Yellowstone exploding/imploding/shit-happening was that it might set off the Ring of Fire around the Pacific, which would cause global problems. From the way you guys are talking, though, it sounds like Yellowstone alone is bad enough business. Is that the case?

Okay then, Earth is too risky to have a fortress on in the event of an eruption.  How about Mars?

[wierd]

About the accumulated weight of many tons of fluff on my roof? Not a whole lot I could do about that.

The home has attic loft rooms, with about 45deg peaked gabled tops. Much of the ash would stay stuck fast to the textured tarpaper shingles up there but my state is also well known for having high incident winds, gusting up to 40 to 50mph, regularly. Unless it rains, and puts concrete on the roof, much of the ashfall will blow off the roof.

Sadly, that much particulate matter in the atmosphere would likely trigger rain, as it would essentially be cloud seeding.

I would simply have to hope for the best as it rained mixed concrete everywhere for several days. Before the roof caved in, there would likely be several noteworthy warning signs I could observe, such as groaning sounds, cracked door frames, and stress fractures in the afore mentioned attic rooms. If I suspected imminent roof collapse, I would find a TINY downstairs closet space, and grab the hatchet and limb saw I keep in my utility room, then set up shop in the smaller, more structurally sound room.  Going outside would be suicidal, until all risk of asshfall had ceased.

Quite literally, the rock and the hard place. 

I would do the best I could, given the situation.


For an example of what Yellowstone exploding would do, go to the fossil record of its bigger sister in indonesia. When that one went off, the human race nearly went extinct globally.

That should help answer your question.

However, regardless, it is simply outside human capability to avert. Worrying about it is a pointless exercise. I merely responded to the "What would you do?" question.

[MrWillsauce]

Maybe it would kickstart Mars colonization. What sorts of problems would giant, ubiquitous clouds of ash cause for space launches?

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Maybe it would kickstart Mars colonization.

The end of modern civilization would not be productive for space travel.

What sorts of problems would giant, ubiquitous clouds of ash cause for space launches?

Are you fucking kidding me? Everything is covered in concrete and material which will instantly turn into concrete if it contacts water. Birds will not fly. Planes will not fly. Rockets will almost certainly not fly, assuming you could even get one together.

[MrWillsauce]

Sounds like a challenge. Step it up, NASA.

[misko27]

People, I think there is a bit of a underestimation how much ash we are talking about. Like, a Giga-Fuckton. I mean, all the ash of the WTC, an entire building, covered a few blocks of Manhattan. Imagine, for a moment, how much ash is needed to cover half the continental United states. This would be far worse than anything the Human race has ever faced, I mean this makes "The year without a sun" look like sticking your hands above your eyes.

[MrWillsauce]

Then I guess we better get to Mars while we still can.

[wierd]

Not exactly true. The Toba eruption is a good analogous precedent. The human race was present when that occured, though MUCH more primitive. It occured before the invention of writing. No record of the event is preserved, other than the geological and genetic ones.

Circumstantial evidence shows a 60% reduction in projected human genomic diversity, where running inverse projections places the point of disparity at a time consistent with the Toba eruption. While unproven, there is some pretty compelling and plausible correlations in the data.

In my area, I would estimate 3 to 6 foot of ashfall, EVERYWHERE. Assuming my house survived intact, I would have to saw my way out of the roof to escape. The doors would be completely blocked under several feet of new "dirt".

[misko27]

Not exactly true. The Toba eruption is a good analogous precedent. The human race was present when that occured, though MUCH more primitive. It occured before the invention of writing. No record of the event is preserved, other than the geological and genetic ones.

Circumstantial evidence shows a 60% reduction in projected human genomic diversity, where running inverse projections places the point of disparity at a time consistent with the Toba eruption. While unproven, there is some pretty compelling and plausible correlations in the data.

In my area, I would estimate 3 to 6 foot of ashfall, EVERYWHERE. Assuming my house survived intact, I would have to saw my way out of the roof to escape. The doors would be completely blocked under several feet of new "dirt".

Okay, fall of Civilization, fine.

I mean, the damage in any of the fields I mentioned alone would seriously strain the world. Agricultural Damage? Absolutely, nearly wiping out poorer countries. Social damage? Death of millions, possible fall of US, wave of "end is near" people, very bad. Ecological/Enviromental? Let's not even go there, all we know is it would be damaging, and long-term. Economic? Global Depression at LEAST, total collapse more likely. All together?

I mean, if there was going to be a Biblical apocalypse, I think this would be a damned good candidate. It has rain of fire, skies of darkness, earthquakes, pestilence, starvation, probably war, et cetera.

[kaian-a-coel]

I should stop reading that thread, I'm sleep deprived and this is depressing.

[SirAaronIII]

Man, if this really does happen, times are really gonna be tuff.

(sorry)

[WealthyRadish]

I vote we nuke the cap over the caldera and get it over with. It'd totally reinvigorate the economy, like the black plague did. And shit, while we're at it, we could get all our other apocalypses out of our system, like nuclear and biological warfare, all at once!

But good luck finding a politician with that kind of vision, who'd be willing to make the tough long term choices.
Sarcasm, jeez.

[wierd]

You might find some in the middle east actually...

[Bauglir]

Well, I live in eastern Iowa. Likely, I'd be fucked in this fortunately unlikely scenario. I'd have enough time to do some scrambling between hearing the news and the stuff actually getting over here, but nothing significant. Escape is implausible - even if I did have enough lead time on the ash cloud, the highways will be packed with people who think they do, and even if my car could handle rough terrain I'd be done at the first river I hit. Best bet is staying in the apartment, sealing it as best I can, and taking as much time as I have to get together the most ash-proof getup I can manage before the place goes down under the weight of ash. Get out through the window when I need to, if the door is stuck (likely, but it's also possible that I'll be able to shove the door open by pushing the ash off the edge of the balcony). Then it's down to securing whatever water supplies I can, likely off the corpses of people who went for that first, and I'll need to set about forming a warband or something. Gotta be thematic about this.

Alternatively it'll happen while I'm asleep and I'll die having never known my fate. Or any one of the many, many things that can go wrong will, and I'll die in full comprehension of what's happening to me. These are more likely.

[Scelly9]

God, that would be depressing. To be one of the first say... 50 on a trip to mars to set up a colony, huge achievement for humanity, and all of that. Two weeks after launch, yellowstone blows, the world as we know it ends, and suddenly you have a 0% chance of survival. Just the thought that you're gonna be dead in a couple years, and there's nothing you can do about it. Would make a good book.