Don't Be Late for the End of the World

From the folks at Chi Wulff, who keep a sharp eye on the Montana/Yellowstone/Wyoming Golden Triangle:

New Hydrothermal Vent in the Shoshone Probably Doesn’t Mean the World’s Ending

Amazing what a new hydrothermal feature, in one of the most geologically active regions on the planet, can invoke among folks these days.

A new vent opened in the bed of the Shoshone back on March 25th near Cody, damned unusual though apparently not unprecedented; it’s all over alternative and social media these days and wasreported in the Billings Gazette here on the 11th; screen cut of the article to the left.

As interesting as the concept may be, and despite the breathless ‘end of the world’ reporting covering the phenomena, our money is on the caldera NOT blowing in the next few weeks. (Try a web search for ‘shoshone river boiling’ if you need some Chicken-Little-oriented entertainment…)

Bad Moon Rising

Just dropped over to EarthSky. Glad I did. Big news!

There will be a total eclipse of the full moon tonight, April 14 - 15. Mars, the Red Planet, is the closest and brightest in 6 years, and will be visible near the red moon. Look for the star Spica, too.

This is known as a Blood Moon. Some people, of a particular religious or superstitious bent, believe this moon, and the three other Blood Moons occurring in 2014 and 2015--four in a row--are signs of the Apocalypse. Yes, that Apocalypse.

If you insist on getting all worked up about that, fine. Go for it. But if you have an open mind and are interested in learning more, you might find this link helpful:

A Christian Astronomer Talks About Blood Moons

I've already said on this blog that I'm a believer. And I believe that the End of the World is the Creator's department. I hope to be ready, whenever it is.

Meanwhile, I will be praying. I'll be praying that the skies are clear over north central Washington State tonight.

What?!

While the east suffered another onslaught of winter we experienced an eerie warm up on Wednesday.  It was pushing 60 degrees at 11 in the morning.

You could smell the warming earth in the brisk south wind.

By 2:30 in the afternoon the town time-and-temperature sign made you look twice. And then look again to make sure.

Yes, it felt good. So good. But it can't be the end of winter.

It must be the end of the world.

Maybe You Shouldn't Put Off That Trip To Yellowstone

Yellowstone Lake at West Thumb Geyser Basin 

The BBC has reported on a study done by the University of Utah:

"The supervolcano that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park in the US is far larger than was previously thought, scientists report.

A study shows that the magma chamber is about 2.5 times bigger than earlier estimates suggested.

A team found the cavern stretches for more than 90km (55 miles) and contains 200-600 cubic km of molten rock.

The findings are being presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco."

I heard one of the researchers say on the radio that he's pretty sure we'll get plenty of warning as the magma levels rise just before the next eruption. Then again, how much warning do you need for the End of the World?

For the full report, click HERE.

The End Of Life As We Know It

I picked up some interesting news over on EarthSky awhile ago.

Astronomers believe that the Milky Way galaxy is on a collision course with the Andromeda galaxy. It might look something like this, with the Andromeda galaxy on the left.

Wow. The prediction is that a collision will occur in approximately 3.75 billion years.

Reminds me of an old joke.

So don't worry. It's 3.75 billion, not million.

Let It Burn

Made it. Never doubted it. Hope you didn't either. Wonder how many End of the World's I've lived through now. Doesn't matter. Dawn came. Some have said each night is a death, each dawn a rebirth. Here, it was one more day and one more snowfall.

Hard not to think of "Fire and Ice." Again. Robert Frost's end-of-the-world poem.

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice." 

"...for destruction ice is also great and would suffice." Easy to believe as winter lays it's cold hand on us. But some said the world would not end, but be reborn. And the world didn't end. But it ground to a halt at it's farthest tilt from the sun...and lurched back into a return trajectory. Solstice. Salvation. Light. Fire.

"From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire." Yes. The fire is coming. Bringing a new world with it. Let it burn.

End of the World Imminent?

Speaking of the end of the world, I understand that will happen tomorrow.

All I can see on the forecast is a chance of rain. It's warm and sunny today.

So here's my question: Should I mow the lawn today, or not?