The Yellowstone caldera gets its chilling label as a supervolcano due to its capability to inflict devastation on a global level. Hidden beneath the US states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, the volcano is constantly monitored by the USGS for any signs an eruption is on the way. An event of this kind has occurred three times in history – 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago and 640,000 years ago, leaving some to claim the massive eruption is overdue.
Self-proclaimed experts have apparently incorrectly stated a future supereruption would mark the end of the world, wiping out all of humanity.
However, after completing the scientific analysis, the USGS explosively refuted the claims in a statement released in this month’s “Caldera Chronicles”.
It reads: “Ashfall out to distances of hundreds of kilometres can be many inches thick, according to simulations carried out by USGS scientists.
“Besides these local implications, volcanic eruptions that expel massive amounts of ash and gas into the atmosphere can have global impacts.
Yellowstone volcano would not wipe out humanity (Image: GETTY)
Yellowstone volcano is constantly monitored by USGS (Image: GETTY)
We are an adaptable species – humans would not go extinct
“In the atmosphere, sulphur dioxide in volcanic gas mixes with water to form sulphuric acid, which condenses to form fine sulphate aerosols.
“These aerosols reflect the heat of the sun back out into space, which can cause cooling of up to several degrees worldwide if the eruption is large enough.
“This may not sound like much, but it can be devastating to agriculture, in Europe and North America, 1816 was known as the ‘year without a summer’ because of global cooling caused by the 1815 eruption of Tambora, in Indonesia.”
The statement went on to explain how large amounts of ashfall could be damaging for Earth.
It added: “A large number of crops failed as a result of the cooling due to the eruption.
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The supervolcano has not erupted for 600,000 years (Image: GETTY)
“The more recent 1991 eruption of Pinatubo, in the Philippines, also caused global cooling, perhaps by an average of about 1F (0.6C) during the following year.
“Huge volcanic eruptions like the most recent big Yellowstone explosion, which occurred 631,000 years ago, are about 10 times bigger than that of Tambora in 1815, and perhaps 100 times bigger than Pinatubo’s 1991 blast.
“So it’s easy to see that such huge eruptions probably have a significant impact on global climate that might last for years.
“We can be confident of this because there have been two massive explosions while humans were present on Earth, and both of these were actually larger than Yellowstone’s most recent cataclysmic eruption.”
USGS scientists went on to explain how they have learnt a lot from previous eruptions.
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The ash deposit from a supereruption could affectr the globe (Image: GETTY)
The caldera is hiding below Yellowstone National Park (Image: GETTY)
The statement continued: “These eruptions were from Toba, Indonesia, about 74,000 years ago and from Taupo, New Zealand, about 26,500 years ago.
“The geologic record doesn’t contain any information about the New Zealand eruption and its impact on humanity, although climate must certainly have been affected.
“For many years, the Toba eruption was suspected of causing the near extinction of humanity—Homo sapiens only appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago, so at the time of the Toba eruption, our species was still not particularly advanced or widespread.
“Genetic evidence suggests that at the time our ancestors migrated away from Africa, shortly after the time of the Toba eruption, there were only a few thousand individuals.
“This has led some scientists to speculate that the Toba eruption nearly wiped out humanity, but evidence from archaeology suggests that humans did not suffer greatly from the effects of the Toba eruption.”
The predicted ash-cloud deposits (Image: DX)
However, the scientific agency did admit life would not be easy after a supereruption.
They concluded: “Archeological evidence from southern Africa shows that Homo sapiens were thriving during and following the eruption.
“This is not meant to make light of the impacts of future large explosive eruptions, in fact, a Toba-sized eruption is not needed to cause changes in climate, as the smaller Tambora eruption demonstrated.
“Rather, we hope to explain why claims that Yellowstone will cause an end to humanity are wrong, instead, such eruptions will cause major changes to the environment and will require humans to cope with extreme conditions.
“Our dependency on global trade, electricity, and other aspects of modern life will be impacted and create challenges that our stone-age ancestors did not have to deal with, but we are an adaptable species – humans would not go extinct.”
