[Unknown Target]

Lucky for them, though, most of it would be blocked by the larger islands and Florida.
Still, makes you wonder: if any of this happened (like this or the Yellowstone volcano as quoted by Nico), it would change the entire world...in a lot of ways, both bad and good.
Bad:
Cools the climate
Kills thousands
Destroys ecosystems
Possibly destroys the economies of the world

Good:
Cools the world, and provides a layer of protection against solar rays to hopefully make up for our ozone layer (at least that's what I'm gathering).
Hopefully stop all these ridiculus wars.


Whoo...we're still boned though.

[Scuddie]

Let me re-state that for ya .

Bad for us:
Cools the climate
Kills thousands
Possibly destroys the economies of the world

Good for earth:
Cools the climate
Kills thousands
Possibly destroys the economies of the world

I, personally am for global genocide over global catastrophe.

[Ford Prefect]

I live well north of New York. I wonder if that means we'll only be partially raped.

[Bobboau]

well I've got a bout a thousand miles of buffer between me and the coast so I'm ok.

[NGTM-1R]

For the first time in my life I'm glad I live on the west coast.

[Flipside]

To be honest, the Japanese have been working on ways to combat this for years, they specifically dig trenches for the lava to follow which reduces heat erosion, and with one volcano they actually sealed up the crack in the side of the volcano with high density concrete so that the lava would be released from the top rather than the side.

Also, if La Palma collapses, it depends heavily on the depth of the water it collapses into, if it falls into 2 feet of water over a sandbank, you're just going to get a big pile of rubble.

Look at it this way, when Krakatoa exploded, it should have had much the same effect, but theres a sandbank about two miles off the coast which dulled the effects (the tidal wave only went twice round the globe, but was only about 1/10 the size it would have been if not for that sandbank).

So obviously reason for concern, but this, I feel, is a worst-case scenario.

[Tiara]

Originally posted by Flipside
To be honest, the Japanese have been working on ways to combat this for years, they specifically dig trenches for the lava to follow which reduces heat erosion, and with one volcano they actually sealed up the crack in the side of the volcano with high density concrete so that the lava would be released from the top rather than the side.

Eh, that doesn't matter. The lava will still heat up the water and make it expand. And once the water expands to such a degree, it will split apart the island.

Also, if La Palma collapses, it depends heavily on the depth of the water it collapses into, if it falls into 2 feet of water over a sandbank, you're just going to get a big pile of rubble.

Eh, no. In Lituya bay in Alaska, where this already happened, the lake was only a few meters deep on the shore. Yet it created a mega-tsunami.

And that was in a very small BAY. Not even an ocean.

Look at it this way, when Krakatoa exploded, it should have had much the same effect, but theres a sandbank about two miles off the coast which dulled the effects (the tidal wave only went twice round the globe, but was only about 1/10 the size it would have been if not for that sandbank).

It doesn't work that way. A landslide Tsunami doesn't work like an Earthquake Tsunami. A normal Tsunami dulls out and can break. But mega-tsunamis don't since ALL the water is moved. From the bottom of the ocean to the surface.

The only thing that will happen if it hits a sandbank is that the front will rise up (it gets higher) but it will remain at the same speeds. That's why such a tsunami can wipe out anything withing 20 kilometers of the coast instead of just the actual coast line.

So obviously reason for concern, but this, I feel, is a worst-case scenario.

Nope. In the documentary I saw they explained precisely how it would happen. Hell, they even showed experiments they've been conducting for years now.

They also said it was a worst-case-scenario, but also the most likely scenario since the instbility of the island is quite bad.

[Flipside]

In Lituya bay, it created a localised Tsunami, not a globe spanning one. As far as the displacement of water is concerned, once again, this is based on theories and assumptions, I'm not saying it won't happen, I'm saying that to say it certainly will is not very scientific. We are back to making theories into fact again. Not good.

What concerns me is, in what way is predictions like this any different to 'The end of the world is Nigh convert or burn in hell!!1!'. It's scaremongering as much as anything else.

Yes, a Tsunami such as this is a threat, I'm not saying it's not, but to say we know the exact behaviour of tectonics, lava, water pressure, all combined together when we can't even tell with more than very poor accuracy how any volcano or tectonic activity is really going to occur or what effect it will have is somewhat jumping the gun.

I'm not saying ignore it, I'm saying do something about it, but I get worried when science starts making biblical irreversible facts and throws them at people who are often not aware enough of the variables involved to realise that, like all of science, it's a theory.

Our own ignorance and lack of knowledge caught us unaware with this Tsunami, let's not let Tsunami become yet another 'Huge Asteroid in Space!!!'

[Swamp_Thing]

Actually, there is one even worst hipotetical disaster, just waiting to happen, in the western seaboard. The State of California is sitting on a massive fault, the San Andreas fault, that could break if a big enough quake hits the area. Now imagine the whole state diving into the Pacific, and you get a wave 1000 times bigger than anything La Palma can create...
All it takes is a big enough quake, in the right spot. And we all know how common quakes are in that area, precisely because of the fault.
How´s that for alarmist?

Still, the chances of either of those events happening as doomsayers predict, is smaller than the chance we get hit by a space rock. Currently Mankind has plotted and mapped about 2% of the sky, meaning there are virtually millions of rocks out there, just waiting for Earth to get in the way...

But even if it happens, we won´t know it untill it´s over anyway, so why bother? The chances of a global killer are still way smaller than the chances that some nutt pushes the proverbial button, deep in some underground bunker. And guess what? We have a complete nutter in the White House now, so...

Feeling happier now, folks?
 

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Kalfireth
Out of interest - did knowledge of this threat become known just after the Asian disaster - or has it been known for some time and is only being talked about now because it's happened to someone other than America?

It's a few years old. People are hearing about it now cause everyone is thinking "Could that happen to us?"

Originally posted by Kalfireth
It just seems a bit... stupid to worry about it now. I mean, the next time a volcano erupts - are we going to hear about how half a dozen countries could be blown to dust if certain volcanos erupted?

I'm not going to get worried about it much but if I hear about an eruption in La Palma I'm certainly going to tell my friends in NY and Philly to consider moving inland.

[Tiara]

Originally posted by karajorma

I'm not going to get worried about it much but if I hear about an eruption in La Palma I'm certainly going to tell my friends in NY and Philly to consider moving inland.

The tidal wave would cross the atlantic in less then 8 hours They'd better move fast

[Grey Wolf]

They wouldn't really be able to get out. If this sort of thing happened, people would panic. If they paniced, the roads would be a giant traffic jam, and no one would get out.

[Flipside]

Isn't that the normal phycological/traffic status of New York anyway?

[Fergus]

Oh, you've heard about this mega-tsunami years ago, and I anin't pulling the 'well I am much smarter than you' thing.  [POLITICS]A thing you need to ask yourself, what has the US government done about this?[/POLITICS]
Oh and for those that feel this is scare mongering, how about: A massivly well organised terrorist group has billions os sleeper cells, ready to buthcer all your family at a moments notice.  Just vote for us and we can make you safe.


Nuts, that should have been in politics too.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Fergus
[POLITICS]A thing you need to ask yourself, what has the US government done about this?[/POLITICS]

Yeah, they should have have moved everybody from coasts and built 5km deep, 100 meters tall walls on the shores. Or poured lots of ice in the volcano, to, you know, cool it down.

[Flipside]

Well, I'm not a geologist or anything, so I've no idea how to deal with it, I suppose the best way is to try and find some way to make a controlled release of the pressure, but unless someone here is some kind of high-level engineer/geologist anything said here would be theory only.

[Unknown Target]

Originally posted by Fergus
Oh, you've heard about this mega-tsunami years ago, and I anin't pulling the 'well I am much smarter than you' thing.  [POLITICS]A thing you need to ask yourself, what has the US government done about this?[/POLITICS]
Oh and for those that feel this is scare mongering, how about: A massivly well organised terrorist group has billions os sleeper cells, ready to buthcer all your family at a moments notice.  Just vote for us and we can make you safe.


Nuts, that should have been in politics too.

Some of the dumber politics posts just amuse me so.

[aldo_14]

West coast warning system and public information could help.... they have the east coasts warning system already, but I'n not sure if they bother to give out people information on how to react in an emergency or hold drills.

[CmdKewin]

Switzerland will save you, mortal sinners.


Seriously tough, no need to panic before it's time

[Nico]

But when it's time, it's too late to panic