Actually, if you are anywhere within, say, 1,000 miles of Wyoming, Idaho or Montana, you are within the direct line of fire of the Yellowstone Caldera, a massively destructive volcanic structure that erupts about every 600,000 years--and the last eruption was 640,000 years ago, suggesting we are on borrowed time.

When this caldera does eventually blast, it will be an explosion that puts the likes of Krakatoa and Pompeii--indeed any and all volcanic eruptions in our time combined--to shame. Moreso, it will not only immediately destroy the geographic equivalent of several states but will also throw enough crap into the air to have an instantaneous, dramatic and long-term impact on the global environment, potentially triggering a contemporary ice age. So, whether or not you can see a pointy-topped mountain from your kitchen window, we U.S. citizens are not exempt from calamitous volcanic activity. It may not explode in our lifetime, or even for several millennia, but it WILL happen eventually.

Just in case, I, for one, am stocking up on mittens as we speak.

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