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On the morning of May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens volcano exploded with 500 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb. It was the most destructive eruption in U.S. history. The cataclysmic chain of events killed 57 people and thousands of animals, took out 250 homes, 47 bridges, and 185 miles of highway, and flooded valleys. The mountain’s north side collapsed leaving a yawning crater the size of downtown Seattle. To this day, the crater of Mt. St. Helens volcano remains a place of immense danger and strictly offlimits to the public — avalanches, crevasses, poison gas, and boulders tumbling down the nearvertical slopes are just a few of the threats. But in recent years, the crater has become a place of great scientific interest. Few people realize that the hollowedout crater now holds the world’s youngest glacier. And it continues to grow while most others around the world are shrinking.

Not only is it the newest, but it’s also one of the few that’s growing. What’s behind its growth and how might it one day help scientists discover life on other planets?

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Hosted by Joe Hanson from It's Okay to be Smart, Overview uses incredible 4k drone footage to reveal the natural phenomena shaping our planet from a 10,000foot view—literally.
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