Tag Archives: Yellowstone

Yellowstone gives aspiring post-apocalyptic writers new hope

Actually, this is Pulau Ana Krakatau off Indonesia, but it's more dramatic :P I mean, really.  Everyone from Phillip K. Dick to the ‘Fallout’ videogame series used nuclear war as a backdrop for stories set in the American West.  Now, Mother Nature gives us new possibilities, only minus deadly radiation.  Seems Yellowstone National Park is a giant caldera, essentially an old volcano cone that’s collapsed upon itself.  And it’s been rising rather dramatic amounts (geologically-speaking, which is three inches per year).  The largest volcano system in the world doesn’t show any signs of erupting anytime soon, as a geologist studying the caldera pleaded on Science Friday last week from NPR.  For those of you looking for more exciting volcanos, Ana Krakatau, the volcano created after the largest recorded explosion in history, is at it again (pictured).  Beyond the obvious immediate dangers, these volcanoes potentially have effects on the climate, both good and bad.