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These kinds of cataclysmic volcanic eruptions could happen today right? What's.......our intended process for dealing with this? Are there any technical solut

These kinds of cataclysmic volcanic eruptions could happen today right? What's.......our intended process for dealing with this? Are there any technical solutions for dispersing ash from the atmosphere? I know this is a stupidly naive question to some degree - how do you prevent acts of god, but I am curious if someone has thought about it.

thaumasiotes 6y ago
> Are there any technical solutions for dispersing ash from the atmosphere? Seems like the dispersal of the ash is the problem, and you'd want to be collecting it.
- mc32 6y ago
  That would be quite the challenge since fine silica and other particles would foul just about any kind of machinery.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
castis 6y ago
one of the attributes of an act of god is being unpreventable by humans. in the event of something like this, having the supplies to just weather the fallout would be best. a years worth of supplies on-hand would be a good start.
- waterhouse 6y ago
  > one of the attributes of an act of god is being unpreventable by humans. That may be, but the set of things that humans can prevent gets larger over time. For example, 100 years ago, an asteroid hitting the earth would be an act of God we could do nothing about, but today it is at least within the realm of possibility that we could observe a large asteroid on a collision course and send in a spacecraft or missile to divert it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance
  - castis 6y ago
    As much as I hope I never witness this, watching humanity strap a rocket to an asteroid for this purpose would probably rank #1 on the list of Most Bitchin Things Ever.
  - TechBro8615 6y ago
    There was a Sci-Fi TV show about this called Salvation [0] which I thought was a decent show, but YMMV (reviews are quite polarized). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_(TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_(TV_series)
- ip26 6y ago
  There's some debate about whether we can build a geothermal power plant on top of a volcano to manage the temperature of the hotspot.
SllX 6y ago
Hmm, well we saw something like it recently and it mostly just stranded people in Europe from what I recall. Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland about 10 years ago and there wasn’t anything we could do but wait it out, and it was a lot less severe than what’s described in this article.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  Although it's worth asking, did the eruption affect agricultural output in Iceland? Maybe modern farming is just resilient enough against volcanic eruptions, as it is against all the other things that used to cause famines.
  - tastyfreeze 6y ago
    Modern farming is not resilient in any way. Production is centralized, mechanized and heavily reliant on outside inputs. Global trade lessens the degree to which a regional crop failure affects a population. Smaller, distributed, local farms lessen the reliance on trade but still very much rely on our gracious host to provide clean rain and sun. The only way to escape that is immense amounts of electricity for indoor farming.
    - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
      It's my understanding that even the worst case eruptions described in the article didn't make it globally impossible to grow crops. IIUC they just produced a higher than normal prevalence of local issues.
    - pfdietz 6y ago
      The huge resilience is the overcapacity due to growing feed for livestock.
  - arnarbi 6y ago
    For the recent eruption prevailing winds were from the north, and the volcano is on the south coast. So most of the effects were blown out to sea. But farms in the vicinity of the volcano certainly felt it: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-plume-archive1.html https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-p... (see e.g. the photos from 5.11.10) http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_i_Eyjafjallajokli_a_ibua/$file/%C3%81hrif%20eldgossins%20%C3%AD%20Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kli%20%C3%A1%20%C3%ADb%C3%BAa.pdf https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_... The larger eruption in 1783 killed over half of livestock, and a quarter of the human population in the ensuing famine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
komali2 6y ago
> What's.......our intended process for dealing with this? The extent of the USA's preparedness, from the federal agency in charge handling Emergencies, is a website with a bullet point list of what you should have in a first aid kit in your house: https://www.ready.gov/kit https://www.ready.gov/kit I'm being only partially facetious. There are of course multiple agencies at the federal, state, county, and local level with their own plans and processes in place for this kind of thing. But! We can look to the past for what would happen. Katrina taught us that the US federal government doesn't have the resources, means, or disposition to rescue people from disaster zones. It also taught us that as an individual or family, the best thing you can do is take evacuation warnings very seriously, and be ready to be able to provide for yourself and your family for the short and long term. So, ready.gov build a kit, and stuff it full of cash while you're at it. Keep the cars gassed up. Katrina also taught us that the US government will choose to enforce "property rights" before it will ensure people in disaster zones have shelter, water, or food. You could flip from one channel with a helicopter view of people waving for help on a roof, and another channel would be showing National Guard soldiers with rifles chasing off "looters." Hm. The COVID pandemic also taught us that partisans and capitalists are motivated to prioritize the wellbeing of the stock market over humans lives - all the more reason to prepare to protect yourself and family rather than count on the Gov coming to your aid. I'm not saying the homesteaders and preppers aren't a little crazy, but I'm also not saying they don't have the right idea...
- pmiller2 6y ago
  Spot on. We no longer have a government for the people, by the people, of the people. Just take a look at the net worth statistics of our congresscritters and their voting records. In fact, we never really have. Initially, only free, white landowners could even vote! Edit: ah, found yet another “thing you can’t say on HN,” I suppose. :) Talk about lack of TP in stores: +6. Talk about how our “representatives” don’t represent most of us: -2
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    "thing you can’t say on HN" This seems like a thing that people are suddenly saying a lot on HN. Why can't you talk about lack of TP in stores? Where? I thought that was over a few months ago?
nopzor 6y ago
correct, it could happen today. humans are really bad at conceptualizing the risk from such events. we are also overdue for another major solar geo storm (ie. like the carrington event).
- divbzero 6y ago
  A solar storm of similar magnitude passed through Earth’s orbit in 2012 but missed hitting Earth. [1] [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_2012 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_2012
quotha 6y ago
Watch this film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Inferno_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Inferno_(film)
kjs3 6y ago
What's.......our intended process for dealing with this? Same as other existential threats like asteroids. Spend a relative pittance on monitoring, not much else.
klyrs 6y ago
Edit: don't take my word for it, apparently this is a popular myth Read up on Yellowstone, for example -- AFAIK it's "due for a big one" but it blows up so infrequently and so catastrophically that there's no real plan other than "maybe think about not living in North America." But hey, volcanic ash is a coolant for the climate -- a few well-placed eruptions could do some good, on a global scale (sorry about the locals)...
- politelemon 6y ago
  I looked it up, but according to this, it isn't due for a big one, it's merely media hyperbole. >Although fascinating, the new findings do not imply increased geologic hazards at Yellowstone, and certainly do not increase the chances of a 'supereruption' in the near future. Contrary to some media reports, Yellowstone is not 'overdue' for a supereruption. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera#Volcanoes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera#Volcanoes www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2014/01/reactions-yellowstone-supervolcano-study-ranged-hysteria-ho-hum24449
  - AtlasBarfed 6y ago
    "large eruptions that took place 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 630,000 years ago" I mean, it's not like it's due in a decade, but it is every 650,000-700,000 years, and it's been... 630,000 years. Supervolcanoes are a phenomenon entirely different than human history has encountered. Krakatoa is a very small fraction of the ejecta of a supervolcano eruption.
- ericmay 6y ago
  Don’t think it’s “overdue”[0]. I think that’s just a myth in popular culture. [0] https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/yellowstone-overdue-eruption-when-will-yellowstone-erupt?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/yellowstone-overdue-eruption-when-...
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    If experts say we don't have good reason to think an eruption is close, then that sounds eminently reasonable. But that's not the same thing as saying we have good reason to think an eruption is not close. The link in fact says that predictions of an eruption are based on numerology and nobody knows.

thaumasiotes 6y ago

> Are there any technical solutions for dispersing ash from the atmosphere? Seems like the dispersal of the ash is the problem, and you'd want to be collecting it.

mc32 6y ago
That would be quite the challenge since fine silica and other particles would foul just about any kind of machinery.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

castis 6y ago

one of the attributes of an act of god is being unpreventable by humans. in the event of something like this, having the supplies to just weather the fallout would be best. a years worth of supplies on-hand would be a good start.

waterhouse 6y ago
> one of the attributes of an act of god is being unpreventable by humans. That may be, but the set of things that humans can prevent gets larger over time. For example, 100 years ago, an asteroid hitting the earth would be an act of God we could do nothing about, but today it is at least within the realm of possibility that we could observe a large asteroid on a collision course and send in a spacecraft or missile to divert it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance
- castis 6y ago
  As much as I hope I never witness this, watching humanity strap a rocket to an asteroid for this purpose would probably rank #1 on the list of Most Bitchin Things Ever.
- TechBro8615 6y ago
  There was a Sci-Fi TV show about this called Salvation [0] which I thought was a decent show, but YMMV (reviews are quite polarized). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_(TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_(TV_series)
ip26 6y ago
There's some debate about whether we can build a geothermal power plant on top of a volcano to manage the temperature of the hotspot.

SllX 6y ago

Hmm, well we saw something like it recently and it mostly just stranded people in Europe from what I recall. Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland about 10 years ago and there wasn’t anything we could do but wait it out, and it was a lot less severe than what’s described in this article.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
Although it's worth asking, did the eruption affect agricultural output in Iceland? Maybe modern farming is just resilient enough against volcanic eruptions, as it is against all the other things that used to cause famines.
- tastyfreeze 6y ago
  Modern farming is not resilient in any way. Production is centralized, mechanized and heavily reliant on outside inputs. Global trade lessens the degree to which a regional crop failure affects a population. Smaller, distributed, local farms lessen the reliance on trade but still very much rely on our gracious host to provide clean rain and sun. The only way to escape that is immense amounts of electricity for indoor farming.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    It's my understanding that even the worst case eruptions described in the article didn't make it globally impossible to grow crops. IIUC they just produced a higher than normal prevalence of local issues.
  - pfdietz 6y ago
    The huge resilience is the overcapacity due to growing feed for livestock.
- arnarbi 6y ago
  For the recent eruption prevailing winds were from the north, and the volcano is on the south coast. So most of the effects were blown out to sea. But farms in the vicinity of the volcano certainly felt it: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-plume-archive1.html https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/iceland-volcano-p... (see e.g. the photos from 5.11.10) http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 http://lisa.lbhi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2747 https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_i_Eyjafjallajokli_a_ibua/$file/%C3%81hrif%20eldgossins%20%C3%AD%20Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kli%20%C3%A1%20%C3%ADb%C3%BAa.pdf https://www.vegagerdin.is/Vefur2.nsf/Files/Ahrif_eldgossins_... The larger eruption in 1783 killed over half of livestock, and a quarter of the human population in the ensuing famine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

komali2 6y ago

> What's.......our intended process for dealing with this? The extent of the USA's preparedness, from the federal agency in charge handling Emergencies, is a website with a bullet point list of what you should have in a first aid kit in your house: https://www.ready.gov/kit https://www.ready.gov/kit I'm being only partially facetious. There are of course multiple agencies at the federal, state, county, and local level with their own plans and processes in place for this kind of thing. But! We can look to the past for what would happen. Katrina taught us that the US federal government doesn't have the resources, means, or disposition to rescue people from disaster zones. It also taught us that as an individual or family, the best thing you can do is take evacuation warnings very seriously, and be ready to be able to provide for yourself and your family for the short and long term. So, ready.gov build a kit, and stuff it full of cash while you're at it. Keep the cars gassed up. Katrina also taught us that the US government will choose to enforce "property rights" before it will ensure people in disaster zones have shelter, water, or food. You could flip from one channel with a helicopter view of people waving for help on a roof, and another channel would be showing National Guard soldiers with rifles chasing off "looters." Hm. The COVID pandemic also taught us that partisans and capitalists are motivated to prioritize the wellbeing of the stock market over humans lives - all the more reason to prepare to protect yourself and family rather than count on the Gov coming to your aid. I'm not saying the homesteaders and preppers aren't a little crazy, but I'm also not saying they don't have the right idea...

pmiller2 6y ago
Spot on. We no longer have a government for the people, by the people, of the people. Just take a look at the net worth statistics of our congresscritters and their voting records. In fact, we never really have. Initially, only free, white landowners could even vote! Edit: ah, found yet another “thing you can’t say on HN,” I suppose. :) Talk about lack of TP in stores: +6. Talk about how our “representatives” don’t represent most of us: -2
- perl4ever 6y ago
  "thing you can’t say on HN" This seems like a thing that people are suddenly saying a lot on HN. Why can't you talk about lack of TP in stores? Where? I thought that was over a few months ago?

nopzor 6y ago

correct, it could happen today. humans are really bad at conceptualizing the risk from such events. we are also overdue for another major solar geo storm (ie. like the carrington event).

divbzero 6y ago
A solar storm of similar magnitude passed through Earth’s orbit in 2012 but missed hitting Earth. [1] [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_2012 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_2012

quotha 6y ago

Watch this film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Inferno_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Inferno_(film)

kjs3 6y ago

What's.......our intended process for dealing with this? Same as other existential threats like asteroids. Spend a relative pittance on monitoring, not much else.

klyrs 6y ago

Edit: don't take my word for it, apparently this is a popular myth Read up on Yellowstone, for example -- AFAIK it's "due for a big one" but it blows up so infrequently and so catastrophically that there's no real plan other than "maybe think about not living in North America." But hey, volcanic ash is a coolant for the climate -- a few well-placed eruptions could do some good, on a global scale (sorry about the locals)...

politelemon 6y ago
I looked it up, but according to this, it isn't due for a big one, it's merely media hyperbole. >Although fascinating, the new findings do not imply increased geologic hazards at Yellowstone, and certainly do not increase the chances of a 'supereruption' in the near future. Contrary to some media reports, Yellowstone is not 'overdue' for a supereruption. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera#Volcanoes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera#Volcanoes www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2014/01/reactions-yellowstone-supervolcano-study-ranged-hysteria-ho-hum24449
- AtlasBarfed 6y ago
  "large eruptions that took place 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 630,000 years ago" I mean, it's not like it's due in a decade, but it is every 650,000-700,000 years, and it's been... 630,000 years. Supervolcanoes are a phenomenon entirely different than human history has encountered. Krakatoa is a very small fraction of the ejecta of a supervolcano eruption.
ericmay 6y ago
Don’t think it’s “overdue”[0]. I think that’s just a myth in popular culture. [0] https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/yellowstone-overdue-eruption-when-will-yellowstone-erupt?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/yellowstone-overdue-eruption-when-...
- perl4ever 6y ago
  If experts say we don't have good reason to think an eruption is close, then that sounds eminently reasonable. But that's not the same thing as saying we have good reason to think an eruption is not close. The link in fact says that predictions of an eruption are based on numerology and nobody knows.