Oh man. The Apophis meteor is to hit us in year 2029, but even before that happens, the world might be facing a more immediate problem. See, it's been known that Yellowstone has been sitting on top of a super volcano. And though it has long been revealed that Yellowstone is way past its due date for explosion, recent findings show that the 30-mile gap between the magma and Yellowstone's surface has now been substantially reduced to only 6 miles. Is it getting hot in here or what? There's still some hope though...

There's a reason why the volcano over at Yellowstone is considered super. Apart from the fact that it spans parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, scientists recently discovered yet another super thing about it. Apparently, there is significant activity going on beneath its placid-looking surface -- and one that is increasing lately. Add to that little bit of news is the discovery that the nearby Treton Range is getting shorter.

So does this mean that the Yellowstone supervolcano is moving over the landscape, thereby affecting the expanse of the nearby range? Probably so. But that's only the tip of the iceberg -- er, volcano.

It's been said that researchers have been poring 17 years of their work just tracking the horizontal and vertical motion of the Yellowstone caldera. This is the huge volcanic crater that was created, thanks to the super-eruption of the supervolcano some super 60, 000 years ago.

According to lead study author Robert Smith of the University of Utah, "we think it's a combination of magma being intruded under the caldera and hot water released from the magma being pressurized because it's trapped." And while they still do not consider this as enough warning or evidence for impending doom, aka a supervolcanic eruption, "it would be prudent to keep monitoring the volcano."

While there are some volcanoes, there are some volcanoes. And some of those volcanoes just happen to be super (and that's not the type that flies around with a red cape and a stylized S).

They're different from your explosively popular Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rushmore, and Mt. Vesuvius because while these volcanoes really pack a mighty punch, we're talking about super volcanoes here. There exists some massive, and we mean, gigantic volcanoes that could explode so violently and so wide that it could change the climate of the earth! We're talking 2500 times more powerful than Mt. St. Helens.

Now if that's not enough to scare you (who wouldn't be scared with that warning?!), here's the clincher: it's closer to home than you think. Some of you might actually have had a relaxing picnic right on top of it - Yellowstone National Park. Volcanic activity has been going on under there for about two million years now. And on average, it erupts every 600,00 years - it's last eruption being 640,000 years ago. Is it overdue? Well, this doesn't automatically mean that there will be an explosion soon, but there have been reports of increased thermic and seismic activity in the area recently.

So what happens if it does blow? Well... aside from causing a mini-Ice Age for the planet, let this picture of the primary blast-area speak for itself:

For what it's worth, it's good to know that the United States Geological Service (USGS) and University of Utah are keeping a watchful eye on it, and there have been scientific advances in predicting eruptions. So if ever Yellowstone goes kablooey, we can be properly notified (and start to panic?) in advance.