Yellowstone’s most famous geyser could shut down, with huge ramifications

If temperatures rise 10F by the century's end as projected, Old Faithful could stop erupting, and the snowpack that feeds rivers throughout the west may disappear

When a band of geological surveyors and US army scouts mapped out what would become Yellowstone in 1870, the geysers and springs seemed endless - a land so unbound that Congress moved to name it the world's first national park.

Nearly 150 years later, about 4 million people visit the park annually to see its most famous geyser: Old Faithful. It is a sight to behold, shooting tens of thousands of litres of boiling water hundreds of feet into the air about 17 times a day.