Supervolcanoes can be devastating when they erupt every few
hundred thousand years. Supervolcanoes can discharge huge amounts of
volcanic ash and lava over a large geographic area. More importantly,
the eruption of a supervolcano can have severe long lasting effects to
the weather, even to the point of triggering a small ice age. It is
these long lasting weather changes which can drive existing species to
extinction. Because of the danger posed by supervolcanic eruptions,
scientists have carefully studied supervolcanoes since the 1950's.
Scientific
researchers focus on determining what causes supervolcanoes to erupt,
what warning signs are present before an eruption, and what happens in
the aftermath of an eruption. By monitoring potential disaster sites and
analyzing microscopic crystals in ash deposits, scientists have learned
what warning signs are present right before a supervolanic eruption.
Further research has also indicated that supervolcanic emissions cause
atmospheric chemical reactions which make long term effects to the
weather even more dangerous than previously imagined.
One of the
first discoveries that hinted towards the existence of supervolcanoes
were enormous circular valleys, some up to 60 kilometers across and
several kilometers deep. These circular valleys are called calderas due
to their bowl-like shape. Calderas form when the chamber of magma lying
underneath a volcanic vent empties out. When scientists noted the size
of the caldera formed by a supervolcano, they knew they were dealing
with a force that was hundreds or even thousands times greater than
Mount St. Helens.
Similar threats such as nuclear war, global
warming, and asteroids can be averted with a suitable plan of action.
Nuclear missiles can be disarmed and peace talks maintained. Global
warming can be analyzed and environmentally friendly systems put into
place. Asteroids can be deflected with a warhead of sufficient yield.
Unfortunately, experts agree that supervolcanoes pose the one threat to
humanity that technology can do nothing about. The only possible course
of action is to constantly check for warning signs and evacuate any area
that will affected by the eruption.
There have been four known
supervolcanic eruptions to date. These include Yellowstone National Park
in Wyoming, Long Valley in California, Toba in Sumatra, and Taupo in
New Zealand. There are two other known supervolcanoes in the world:
Valles Caldera in New Mexico, and Aira in Japan. Scientists state that,
because supervolcanoes only erupt every few hundred thousand years, it
is extremely unlikely that anyone living today will witness a
supervolcanic eruption.
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