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Trash Geyser Spews Garbage In Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone Park’s Ear Spring geyser spat up festering trash that has been marinating in near-boiling water for decades.
Image: NPS / Flickr

Geyser eruptions are known as one of the most beautiful events to occur in nature. Not anymore! On September 15, Yellowstone Park’s Ear Spring geyser erupted, belching not just rocks and scalding hot water into the air, but dozens of pieces of human trash that were cooked for decades in incredibly hot water. Nice!

The National Park Service shared a picture of some of the artifacts recovered, which it claims are “clearly historic” and may end up in Yellowstone’s archives. The picture clearly shows a baby pacifier, a Solo Jazz cup, a plastic spoon, and some sort of tablet-like electronic device destroyed beyond recognition. There also seems to be a large slab of concrete or a cinder block.

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“Foreign objects can damage hot springs and geysers,” representatives from the National Park Service said in a Facebook post. “You can help by never throwing anything into Yellowstone's thermal features!”

You would think it goes without saying, but yes, please do not hurl your trash into a scalding hot spring in the largest National Park in the country. If you’re thinking “Maybe I’ll throw just a little trash into the geyser,” No. Do not throw even a little trash into the geyser.

The National Park Service shared a photo of several dozen coins that were thrown into the geyer and were consequently scorched beyond recognition. Throwing your currency into a geyser will not bring you good luck. Do not throw your coins into a geyser.

If you would like to behold the mighty geyser sputtering human trash through the air, a video of the eruption is included below. Abandon hope all ye who enter here.