supervolcano

Geologists warn us about dangerous volcanoes. Will we spend pennies for warnings?

By / 13 Comments / 14 August 2017

Summary: While we obsess about climate change and debate if we live in the Anthropocene, we prepare poorly or not at all for natural forces like volcanoes that can level cities. This is folly we can no longer afford. Experts recommend a simple first step to better protect ourselves. Let’s start listening, or nature will …

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More about shockwaves of the volcanic kind

By / Leave a Comment / 2 June 2013

Although we are obsessed with a few possible shockwaves, there are many others to which we remain oblivious.  We put disproportionate resources into the few, in effect magnifying the danger from the others.  We have been warned about the others, but prefer to remain blind.  Here’s one example: “Atmospheric and environmental effects of the 1783–1784 Laki eruption: A …

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About our “certain doom” from the Yellowstone supervolcano

By / 5 Comments / 27 September 2017

Earth was a benign mother during the 20th century, so that we forgot that changes in the physical world are among the most powerful drivers shaping history.  Now we seem to have gone to the other extreme, seeing every change in the physical world as a harbinger of doom. Here are some antidotes to the nonsense circulating …

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Let us light a candle while we walk, lest we fear what lies ahead

By / 23 Comments / 30 December 2016

Innovation of new forms of society and technology. It is the key to our progress. It has allowed us to evolve from naked hunter-gatherers to the dominant species on this planet. This process is slow, normally taking hundreds or even thousands of years. But occasionally evolution leaps forward. ** Many people look to the future …

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