I like reading about changes like this. It reminds me that our lifetimes are not always long enough to see what the planet can do or how much it can change. I'm glad to be around to witness or read about small scale things like this.
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Perhaps the Yellowstone mega-volcano will blow up in our lifetimes, trivializing all present concerns we have, and ultimately putting us all out of our misery.
Our entire lifetimes, indeed, our entire civilizations, are just moments in the passage of time as our planet evolves from one age to the next.
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@RM Not to me, that lifetime, it's a blessing and a wonder and if one wants to live to imagine us all being put out of our misery (personally I am not miserable) why bother at all?
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I live in Rotorua and am not impressed...
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@Rawiri
Rotorua is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
"Caldera activity is constantly monitored, and there would be years if not decades of warning signs before a major eruption would occur. "
We must believe in our scientists. The people who monitor our National Parks do a great job and provide a wonderful service. That's the facts.
Nonetheless, I intuitively think these things are portents, such as the magnetic north shifting so aberrantly.
I visited Yellowstone for my 50th birthday, and I felt very small.
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I am envious. Seeing Old Faithful erupt at midnight illuminated by a bright full moon is something I will never forget.
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https://archive.unews.utah.edu/news_releases/quake-in-alaska-changed-yellowstone-geysers/ (2004)
https://geographical.co.uk/nature/climate/item/2570-sea-floor-sinking-under-the-weight-of-climate-change (2018)
Ring of fire activity increased due to the sinking ocean floor?
Trump might yet get a natural disaster of biblical proportions. (Yellowstone super volcano eruption effects: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2014GC005469)
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"...sounding like a jet engine or a giant foam steamer for a latte."
That sounds like something a scientist or a giant Tide-Pod eater would say.
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I had the chance to get up to Yellowstone last Memorial Day weekend. Even got a campsite at Norris Campground, only to miss a Steamboat eruption only a few hours after my departure. Hoping to catch it sometime.
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We snow mobiled Yellowstone in the winter twice when a guide was not required and stayed 4 nights. It was awesome. You can witness Old Faithfull by your self at dawn in January. The cross country skiing the trails around the thermals is unique.
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And just how do we know there would be “years if not decades” of warning signs that the super volcano was going to blow? How do we know that this spate of unprecedented eruptions isn’t a “warning sign”? Just sayin......
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I tried to watch the video of Steamboat Geyser erupting, but all the screams and "Yeah!'s" in the background, or rather the auditory foreground, ruined the experience. Nature isn't a sports team and doesn't need human screeching to do her thing.
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If I would have to put up with the people screaming and yelling (I guess some could call it "cheering and roaring"), I'll pass. Why can't you look at it in awe and relative silence and not disturb others (who may be in awe)? How is that not another form of pollution?
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@Mike
My sentiment exactly.
When my father and brother joined me in Alaska we went to see the glaciers calving. It is a stupendous show and the audio is just as good - if you could hear it. Every time a glacier started calving the few people next to us set up a scream and holler. It became their private event.
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@Mike
I've attended two solar eclipses: 2017 in Jackson Hole (2:23), and the great 1991 (6:52) in Baja.
In Baja we were so stunned we just looked at each other and walked around in total silence. Unforgettable.
In Jackson Hole, the people up and down the roadway were cheering and shouting like a touchdown at a football game. Not cool.
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Never seen Steamboat go off but I've seen plenty. Geysers are pretty incredible. Although, geysers are only one reason to go to Yellowstone. If I were going today, I'd probably skip the geysers and wonder off somewhere on my own. You could spend years wondering around that place and never feel found. It doesn't take much effort to avoid the crowds either. Old Faithful though certainly isn't that place.
I understand not everyone can pop-off to Yellowstone for the weekend though. If you're interested in the subject, I recommend George Black's "Empire of Shadows." The book is more historical than science. However, the writing is incredibly accessible. Black reads more like a novel than a history book. I couldn't put it down. Even if you can't go to Yellowstone, this book will make you want to go.
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Climate change brings greater rains, which likely increase groundwater supplies. So the supply of water into this volcanic system is probably greater. It's a wonderful geologic feature. What could possibly go wrong?
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@Andrew Porter
Are we also to blame the increased fire activity in the region on greater rains? Climate change does not explain everything.
We cannot expect such active geological features to also be constant. These things are changing all the time. The article highlights a geyser that has become more active but there are plenty of others that have become less active and even dormant. I was in Yellowstone a couple years ago and was disappointed that the spectacular color and activity at Mammoth Hot Springs I experienced a few decades before has become a far less dramatic collection of quite and sometimes dry white pools. Does climate change contribute to the changing landscape of Yellowstone? Of course. But there are many other factors. There is plenty of science about the the ways geysers form and evolve, some of which is mentioned in this article.
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Climate change is changing weather patterns in different ways in different places. Yellowstone is receiving less rain, not more.
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