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NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

bbc.com

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Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#61

Post by petre »

danieltillett wrote: post #56
Houshalter wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are not remotely on the edge of famine. Something like 80% of our crop production goes to feeding very calorie inefficient livestock. In any real famine they would be slaughtered and their food intake would be redirected to human consumption. We are nowhere near the limits of the population Earth can support, at least food wise.

Us rich people will probably be fine (unless the situation was decades long), but many people in the world won't be able to pay the higher prices. If you are currently spending 70% of your income on food and prices triple then you will starve.

'Richness' is rather redefined during a calamity if that size. The banks won't work and money would be quite worthless.

Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#63

Post by mythrwy »

Spooky23 wrote: post #57
Iv wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or similarly, try to reduce the population enough so that we are not constantly on the razor edge of famine.

We're good on a pretty dull razor. Food insecurity is purely a function of the inefficiency of our society's means of food distribution.

Only while the sun shines though.

Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#66

Post by tempestn »

torpfactory wrote: post #65

Is anyone else surprised by the excess heat number? 6GW? The reactors at Chernobyl were 3.2GW thermal designs and they had four of them. I guess I would have thought a super volcano that can cause human mass extinction would be... more powerful?

The other part to remember though is that it takes roughly 600,000 years to build up enough pressure to erupt.

Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#67

Post by tempestn »

flareback wrote: post #42
transverse wrote: post #4

Unfortunately, any project to drain the supervolcano's energy will meet with immense resistance from various groups of humans with limited intelligence who don't realize its power and the extinction-level destruction its explosion will cause. The article lists at least two ways of safely extracting the supervolcano's power without risking the triggering of an explosion, but this won't be enough to convince the idioti…

So it's limited intelligence to read an article that states "But drilling into a supervolcano does not come without certain risks. Namely triggering the eruption you’re intending to prevent."? They state that it could cause an eruption, yes they have an idea for how to minimize the risk but that doesn't mean no risk. As much as we may not like it, some people don't like taking risks at all. They'd rather do nothing a…

Of course, there is a risk to doing nothing as well. (Literally, 'take their chances'...)

Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#68

Post by tempestn »

milesf wrote: post #27

The idea of any group of humans "saving the Earth" is neighbouring on hubris. It's fine for the plot line of a Hollywood movie, but pragmatically we can't even engage in civil discourse anymore. Tampering with systems like plate tectonic without the ability to even predict the effects of oil shale fracking means we still have a lot to learn. If the concern of the Earth being wiped out is legitimate, then focus instea…

I wouldn't say the end result is the same just because humanity survives. I mean, say the eruption occurs and as a result only a few billion people ultimately die. Well, human civilization is preserved. But it would be a lot more pleasant to prevent it happening at all.

Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#69

Post by erdle »

tempestn wrote: post #66
torpfactory wrote: post #65

Is anyone else surprised by the excess heat number? 6GW? The reactors at Chernobyl were 3.2GW thermal designs and they had four of them. I guess I would have thought a super volcano that can cause human mass extinction would be... more powerful?

The other part to remember though is that it takes roughly 600,000 years to build up enough pressure to erupt.

earth holds onto shit. imagine not letting go of something for 600,000 years.

Re: NASA's plan to save Earth from a supervolcano

#70

Post by erdle »

Crisco wrote: post #33
lumberingjack wrote: post #29

I was just in Yellowstone so much is still unknown about it and the more I read about it and saw the more afraid I became of it. At one point we saw a crater the size of a city block it was a geyser then in the 80s exploded and killed a few people. I got to thinking "WTF are we doing here this thing is going to blow at any time!?"

I live near Yellowstone (as in going there, seeing the sights and going home is a day trip with time to spare) and always tell people that we're the lucky ones. If the Yellowstone volcano ever goes in our lifetime we'll die instantly. If it goes off, most of the populated world is going to die anyways, might as well be the first.

what are property taxes like?
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