For many, they are the main threat to humanity, even ahead of climate change. And it is that its force of destruction is such that it could end ... absolutely everything, in a matter of a few days. But don't worry: although there are around twenty on Earth, at the moment there is none that should concern us, not even the most popular of all, the one known by the name of Yellowstone.
Let's talk a bit about supervolcanoes in the world.
Supervolcanoes have always been very curious to me, but not because of the power they can have, but because of how old they are. Continuing with Yellowstone, it is estimated that this incredible natural wonder erupted for the last time about 640 thousand years ago, 640 thousand !! Isn't that a staggering number? And if this fact is surprising, it is more so knowing that the oldest major eruption was 2 million years ago. There is nothing!
But… what do we call a supervolcano? These are volcanoes that have a magma chamber thousands of times larger than a normal one under the crust.Which means that, if it wakes up, it would do so much more violently, sending thousands of cubic kilometers of matter into the atmosphere. All that stuff would be to modify the surrounding landscape, in addition to the climate. In fact, the most recent Yellowstone eruption is believed to be responsible for the last Ice Age.
In addition to Yellowstone, there are other volcanoes in America and located in various parts of the globe, such as:
- Lake Toba (Sumatra)
- Taupo volcanic region (New Zealand)
- Caldera Garita (Colorado, USA)
- La Pacana Caldera (Chile)
- Caldera Aira (Japan)
As we said, although there are several, not anticipated no major rash.
What do you think? Did you know about these other supervolcanoes?