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Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

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RomynPG
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Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

Post by RomynPG »

In the spirit of Modern Life is Rubbish/Quite Good threads - a thread where you can post awful "science reporting" - dumb and dumber indeed...


"Volcanic eruptions like the one in Hawaii, are not natural disasters -- without them the Earth would explode" - Fox News

"Hawaii volcano eruption: Kilauea sparks fears of CHAIN REACTION threatening US West Coast" - Daily Express

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Re: Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

Post by unc.si. »

I've actually got some rock at home that came from Kilauea. Poked a stick into the lavaflow myself (in about 1998) and still got it in a bag in the attic. The kids used it for 'show and tell' a few years ago. I go to Iceland and S America a lot so take quite an interest in volcanos and earthquakes. Been dusted in ash in Reykjavik from the Bardarbunga eruption, just got out of Chile a few years ago a few days before Calbuco erupted and was in a 5.1 earthquake in Santiago a couple of weeks back (a bit alarming to have the desk shaking whilst trying to work but the Chileans just carried on as if nothing had happened - 5.1 is pretty minor and they hardly class it as an earthquake). Just a fact of life if you live on the Pacific coast - or in tabloid land a sign that the world is going to end :lol:

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Re: Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

Post by bluenosey »

Isn't there a substantial magma chamber under Yellowstone which, if ever it erupted, would be classified as a super volcano and could cause colossal damage ?

Krakatoa changed the climate of the World for svereal years after it blew, I seem to remember from my studies. If the Icelandic volcano with the unpronounceable name of a few years back is anything to go by, the World will grind to a halt. Well planes anyway.

Probably the West Coast of USA is more likely to be under threat from a long overdue movement of the San Andreas Fault, rather than the volcano in Hawaii (their eruptions tend to be "smoother" anyway, not explosive, so you would get plenty of warning to evacuate)

The tabloids will just sensationalise anything, although there does appear to be an alarming number of "flat earthers" in some parts of the States :?

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Re: Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

Post by murf »

RomynPG wrote: "Volcanic eruptions like the one in Hawaii, are not natural disasters -- without them the Earth would explode"
Crap science within no doubt but isn't that statement basically true? Without the frequent small releases there would be a build up til there was a big one. (Without getting into the semantics of what earth exploding means- any eruption is effectively an explosion from the earth).


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RomynPG
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Re: Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

Post by RomynPG »

bluenosey wrote: Isn't there a substantial magma chamber under Yellowstone which, if ever it erupted, would be classified as a super volcano and could cause colossal damage ?

If that went up it would certainly be a civilisation changing event - would be massive.

Googling just now one link was from the Express again so I couldn't help myself and had a look. Most was fairly accurate but I had a chuckle at a poll question at the end...

Q. Should we be worried about the Yellowstone volcano.

1. Yes - but there is nothing we can do to stop it.
2. Yes- maybe scientists should look at how to prevent it.
3. No - I don't think it will erupt.

The only answer is surely

No - there is nothing we can do to stop it.

bluenosey wrote: Krakatoa changed the climate of the World for svereal years after it blew, I seem to remember from my studies.

13,000 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb when it blew in 1883 :shock:

bluenosey wrote: ... there does appear to be an alarming number of "flat earthers" in some parts of the States :?

You'd have thought they would have seen it as a globe when they were abducted by aliens :D

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Re: Dumb and Dumber - tabloid

Post by RomynPG »

murf wrote: 18 May 2018, 19:44
RomynPG wrote: "Volcanic eruptions like the one in Hawaii, are not natural disasters -- without them the Earth would explode"
Crap science within no doubt but isn't that statement basically true? Without the frequent small releases there would be a build up til there was a big one. (Without getting into the semantics of what earth exploding means- any eruption is effectively an explosion from the earth).

I don't think so - in that I don't think volcanoes release that much energy in relation to the energy within the core - and aren't release valves as such. If the Earth was going to explode for some reason it would explode regardless of whether there were volcanoes or not.

Any volcanologists on FISO?

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Re: Dumb and Dumber - tabloid "science"

Post by Mav3rick »

I thought it was convective currents in the mantle, caused by the heat at the core, which cause plate tectonics that in turn create weaker spots in the crust through which those currents can push. Not a geologist though! So volcanoes aren't valves at all, just a consequence of energy distribution.

An "exploding" earth would require an increasing pressure though, and I thought most of the heat in the earth's core is latent from the planet forming, with a small (relatively speaking) amount of extra heat added by radioactive decay.

In general, the earth cools over time so pressure would presumably reduce over time. Even if it did increase, I can't imagine the planet would explode, unless the crust was absolutely solid and impenetrable and eventually fails catastrophically, like an inflating balloon, which of course it's not.

The volcanoes I find fascinating are the tidal ones on moons in the outer solar system, cause not by latent heat in the core but by gravity squeezing and releasing the body over time. I don't recall that being a thing when I was at school, not sure if that was a new horizons discovery or proof, but I've become more aware of that over the last 10 years maybe.

I do like a bit of pseudo science though, hopefully the young earthers or the homeopathy practitioners will be along soon!

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