--- title: Yellowstone 'Super Eruption' Could Blanket Continental U.S. in Ash description: Supposing Yellowstone erupted into a massive, ash-spewing volcano, how far might the plume travel across the continental United States? From coast to coast, blanketing every city in ash, according to an unsettling new study. canonical: https://time.com/3258704/yellowstone-eruption/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-02T20:33:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:46.240Z article:section: Science og:title: Yellowstone 'Super Eruption' Could Blanket Continental U.S. in Ash og:description: Supposing Yellowstone erupted into a massive, ash-spewing volcano, how far might the plume travel across the continental United States? From coast to coast, blanketing every city in ash, according to an unsettling new study. og:url: https://time.com/3258704/yellowstone-eruption/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta743f37102152bbc/6986a1b2d0b6f2949f305e9a/89168332.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3582 og:image:height: 2015 og:image:alt: USA, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1976). Region of geysers, Castle Geyser og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Yellowstone 'Super Eruption' Could Blanket Continental U.S. in Ash twitter:description: Supposing Yellowstone erupted into a massive, ash-spewing volcano, how far might the plume travel across the continental United States? From coast to coast, blanketing every city in ash, according to an unsettling new study. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta743f37102152bbc/6986a1b2d0b6f2949f305e9a/89168332.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:07 video:published: 2014-02-25 section: climate topics: global warming hiatus, volcanic activity, volcanic eruptions, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change debate, Nature Geoscience study, cooling effect genre: news segment tones: informative, debative, cautionary emotions: skepticism (medium), concern (low), certainty (low) sentiment: neutral audience: general news readers, science-interested viewers, climate policy followers, environmental advocates people: Lauren Gores organizations: TIME, Nature Geoscience, University of Colorado content_suitability: health controversy [00:38-00:41] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Yellowstone 'Super Eruption' Could Blanket U.S. in Ash, Study Finds > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=12ff6a5b-407f-40e9-9130-60f67cba6bf5&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Study: Global Warming Hiatus Result Of Volcanic Activity [Watch (HLS stream): Study: Global Warming Hiatus Result Of Volcanic Activity](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Xn3wASQB.m3u8) (1:07)  _Published 2014-02-25. A new study suggests volcanic activity could be part of the reason why we haven’t seen global warming keep pace with previous predictions._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary A short news segment reports on a study suggesting volcanic activity has contributed to a slowdown in global warming relative to earlier predictions. It cites recent eruptions and their estimated share of the warming hiatus, and explains that volcanic ash and chemicals block sunlight. The segment also presents opposing views on the debate over climate change and notes that human greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. ## Key points - Critics have long pointed to a slowing of rising temperatures over the last 15 years. (00:00) - A new study published Sunday suggests volcanic activity could partly explain why warming has not kept pace with previous predictions. (00:10) - Volcanic eruptions since 2000, including Nabro and Eritrea, have accounted for 15 percent of the global warming hiatus, according to the study in Nature Geoscience. (00:20) - The study's authors say volcanic ash and chemicals block the sun, creating a cooling effect. (00:28) - One speaker calls the climate change theory a scientific theory that has not been proven. (00:38) - Another speaker states that the debate is settled and climate change is a fact. (00:41) - A University of Colorado scientist says the greenhouse effect will continue if humans do not make changes. (00:46) - Volcanic gas emissions fluctuate and can cool or heat the planet, while human greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. (00:56) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:38] Volcanic activity and the warming hiatus. The segment presents the study linking volcanic eruptions to a slowdown in warming and explains the cooling mechanism, alongside skeptical views of climate theory. - [00:38 to 01:07] Debate and the role of human emissions. Opposing views on whether climate change is settled are followed by a scientist's warning that human greenhouse gas emissions will continue to drive the greenhouse effect. ## Key quotes - [00:06] interviewer: "The data are not supporting what the advocates are arguing." - [00:38] interviewer: "A scientific theory that has not been proven." - [00:41] interviewer: "But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact." - [00:54] scientist: "Eruptions are not going to counter the greenhouse effect." ## Questions this video answers - Could volcanic activity explain why global warming has not kept pace with predictions? [00:10] - How do volcanic eruptions produce a cooling effect? [00:28] - How much of the global warming hiatus has been attributed to volcanic eruptions? [00:20] - Will volcanic eruptions counter the greenhouse effect? [00:54] - How do volcanic emissions differ from human greenhouse gas emissions in their effect on temperature? [00:56] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:38-00:41]: Segment includes disputed claims about whether climate change is a proven fact.  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Sep 2, 2014 8:33 PM UTC  Yellowstone National Park (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1976). Region of geysers, Castle Geyser Yellowstone National Park (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1976). Region of geysers, Castle Geyser C.DANI and I.JESKE—De Agostini/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Sep 2, 2014 8:33 PM UTC If Yellowstone erupted into a massive, ash-spewing volcano, how far might the plume travel across the continental United States? From coast to coast, blanketing every city in ash, [according](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014GC005469/full) to an unsettling new study. Geophysicists developed a computer model of a Yellowstone “super eruption” that would spew 330 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash into the sky. The resulting ash cloud, depending on wind conditions, would blanket the continental United States in ash deposits of varying thickness, according to the study, published late August in the journal _Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems_. New York and Washington D.C., would get a light dusting of ash measuring roughly one-tenth of an inch, while San Francisco and Seattle would get a heaping 2 inches. Billings, Montana, meanwhile, would have to dig out from a 70-inch pile up. If the findings sound far-flung, so to speak, researchers point out that Yellowstone’s last massive eruption spewed ash over tens of thousands of square kilometers. Deposits from that eruption have been traced as far afield as Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately, the last time Yellowstone erupted on that scale was some 2 million years ago and counting. ## Transcript [00:00] >>Critics of the global warming theory have long [00:02] decided what looks like a slowing and rising [00:04] temperatures over the last 15 years. [00:06] >>The data are not supporting what the advocates [00:09] are arguing. [00:10] >>But a new study published Sunday suggest volcanic [00:12] activity could be part of the reason why we haven't [00:14] seen global warming keep pace with previous [00:16] predictions. Volcanic eruptions like Nabro and Eritrea, [00:20] and at least 16 others since the year 2000, have [00:22] accounted for 15 percent of the global warming hiatus, [00:25] according to the article in Nature Geoscience. How? [00:28] Well, the study's authors say volcanic eruptions help [00:30] block the sun with ash and chemicals, creating a kind [00:33] of cooling effect. But with or without this new study, it [00:36] seems the debate rages on. [00:38] >>A scientific theory that has not been proven. [00:41] >>But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. [00:45] >>Though the Earth has benefited from this [00:46] temporary reprieve in global warming, a scientist from [00:49] the University of Colorado says the greenhouse effect [00:51] will continue if humans don't make changes. Eruptions [00:54] are not going to counter the greenhouse effect. [00:56] Emissions of volcanic gases go up and down, helping [00:59] to cool or heat the planet, while greenhouse gas [01:02] emissions from human activity just continue to go up. [01:05] Thanks for watching. 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