Whenever the topic or discussion of supervolcanoes erupting is mentioned, the first one that comes to mind is the Yellowstone, forgetting that there are supervolcanoes worse than the Yellowstone. We are not dismissing the fact that it is terrifying, but there are other supervolcanoes in the world that can be harmful too. These enormous volcanic systems can cause catastrophic climate change, disrupt global agriculture, and cover the Earth in ash.
Supervolcanoes are different from the common volcanoes. They erupt in a massive way that can just damage the landscapes, people, animals and everything surrounding it. What is more scary is that there are more supervolcanoes breathing underneath us and we just do not know when they will strike, and researchers claim that they could be worse than Yellowstone.
Italy’s sleeping supervolcano giant: Campi Flegrei
Underneath the streets of Italy is a ticking bomb called the Campi Flegrei, and in recent months there has been rattling of the area, which has made communities fear for their lives. The last time the place erupted was nearly five centuries ago. NBC News claims that about 6,000 miles away, in the Long Valley Caldera, a volcano in eastern California that is next to Mammoth Mountain, geologists have been documenting comparable little earthquakes and occurrences of ground deformation for decades.
The thing now is, geologists, researchers and scientists do not have a concrete answer if all this means there will be an eruption. Some say it might not be immediate. Additionally, because the super-eruptions have collapsed for a very long time now, it is quite difficult to forecast what could happen next due to the large mountain-shaped features that people typically imagine when they think of volcanoes.
What we do know for sure is that the supervolcano will be catastrophic, even though the last time Campi Flegrei had an eruption was about 39,000 years ago, causing the extinction of Neanderthals. The climate effects were severe. Because there has not been an eruption, once the supervolcano wakes up, it will be very bad for Southern Italy and will affect the global community at large too.
The underestimated danger in the United States: The Long Valley Caldera
While the Yellowstone gets some attention due to its severity when it erupts, California’s Long Valley Caldera should also receive the same attention, but it is overlooked. This enormous volcanic system, which lies east of the Sierra Nevada, was created by a massive eruption that occurred more than 760,000 years ago. The explosion blasted over 140 cubic miles of material, covering a large portion of North America with ash.
After observing and studying, scientists have learned that unusual activity is transpiring, rising ground levels, and increased gas emissions, which is a sign that the ground is still alive and active. Therefore, if the Long Valley Caldera were to erupt, it would cause devastation across the entire place, from agriculture, infrastructure, travel and the entire lifestyle and livelihood of people.
The Long Valley Caldera and Campi Flegrei are both classified as supervolcanoes, which are volcanoes that have previously erupted more than 240 cubic miles of material. Campi Flegrei and Long Valley can produce massive explosions, but the supervolcano name can be deceptive, according to Michael Poland, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, says NBC News.
The supervolcano that almost exterminated humanity called Toba
If there is one supervolcano that we can stand and say humanity almost got wiped away, deep within the Indonesian island of Sumatra is called Toba. About 74,000 years ago, that is when the volcano erupted and triggered a global volcanic winter, at the same time reducing humanity to just a few thousands. The largest volcanic lake on Earth, Lake Toba, is now formed by the massive caldera of Toba, which is still active today.
Scientists caution that since magma is still building up beneath the surface, another explosion might happen at any time. As someone said, volcanoes are like people; they have different characters. The most part about studying volcanoes is knowing the personality of a specific volcano you are interested in; once you master that, you then realise that some supervolcanoes are louder than others, claimed an NBC News reporter.