Scientists Warn: Super Volcano Could Kill Millions (Or More)

Natural disaster throughout history have been responsible for millions of deaths across the globe. And, though the last “global killer” to strike earth hasn’t occurred for tens of thousands of years, many scientists say our number may soon be up.

Sourced via Stan Deyo.com:

Across the Bay of Naples from Pompeii, where thousands were incinerated by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, lies a hidden “super volcano” that could kill mil-lions in a catastrophe many times worse, scientists say.

The boiling mud and sulphurous steam holes of the area west of Naples known as the Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields, from the Greek word for burning, are a major tourist attraction.

But the zone of intense seismic activity, which the ancients thought was the entrance to hell, also could pose a danger of global proportions with mil-lions of people literally living on top of a potential future volcanic eruption.

“These areas can give rise to the only eruptions that can have global catastrophic effects comparable to major meteorite impacts,” said Giuseppe De Natale, head of a project to drill deep under the earth to monitor the molten “caldera.”

…

“Fortunately, it is extremely rare for these areas to erupt at their full capacity, as it is extremely rare for large meteorites to hit the earth,” De Natale said from the Vesuvius observatory at Italy’s National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology.

“But some of these areas, in particular the Campi Flegrei, are densely populated and therefore even small eruptions, which are the most probable, fortunately, can pose risks for the population. That is why the Campi Flegrei absolutely must be studied and monitored. I wouldn’t say like others, but much more than the others exactly because of the danger given that mil-lions of people live in the volcano.”

Full story via The Vancouver Sun 

It’s been proposed that a Super Volcano was responsible for the culling of the human herd somewhere around 50,000 years ago, when the population of homosapiens on earth dropped to somewhere between 2,000 and 10,000 people. Humanity, of course, survived, and it will likely make it through the next global disaster, but that doesn’t mean the effects of such an event wouldn’t be catastrophic.

The Yellowstone Caldera that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park in the northwestern part of the United States is so large that a a Super Volcano eruption is believed to have a potential blast radius of some 600 miles, with significant ash fallout direct impacting most of the United States.

Over a period of weeks and months that fallout, like the nuclear radiation from Fukushima, would blanket the entire world, and its impact would be felt almost immediately. Water supplies would be polluted with ash and chemicals, food production would come to a halt as sunlight would be obscured, and the 7 billion people living on earth would be struggling to survive.

According to researchers, a Super Volcano explosion on the order of the Yellowstone Caldera would release 1,000,000 times more energy than the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima.

We know of several such calderas that could have near-instantaneous catastrophic consequences for the planet, and scientists suggest that it’s not a matter of “if” such an event will happen. It is, based on historical evidence, a certainty that another super volcano will occur in the future – it’s only a matter of “when.”

The Yellowstone Caledra is now quite active, with high levels of heat and poisonous gas having been released in recent years. Satellite photos are showing irregular activity in this area, with some suggesting that “when” may be much closer than we think.