Will a supervolcano kill us all?

The eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano Just last year Dr Jerzy Zaba, a geologist at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, predicted an eruption that would destroy most of the United States and could kill five billion people around the world. The supervolcano is still active and could blow at any time.

The ancient Roman city of Pompeii was located in what is now the Campania region of Italy, southeast of Naples. It was at the southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius and was built on a spur formed by a prehistoric lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarnus (modern Sarno) River.

If a lot of sulphur dioxide was released, this could precipitate monsoons and climate shifts, which could affect global food security.” This would all be very problematic, but scientists are sceptical that a single explosive event like this could actually wipe out humanity.

Roughly every 100,000 years, there’s a supervolcano explosion somewhere in the world, the consequences of which can be fatal. If the volcano below Yellowstone National Park were to erupt, it would result in worldwide hunger and a volcanic winter (the cooling of the lower atmosphere).

YVO gets a lot of questions about whether Yellowstone, or another caldera system, will end all life on Earth. The answer is—NO, a large explosive eruption at Yellowstone will not lead to the end of the human race.

Those parts of the surrounding states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that are closest to Yellowstone would be affected by pyroclastic flows, while other places in the United States would be impacted by falling ash (the amount of ash would decrease with distance from the eruption site).

If you want to put a dollar cost on it, “a FEMA estimate pegged the total damage to the United States from a Yellowstone supervolcano at $3 trillion, some 16 percent of the country’s GDP,” Walsh added.

Mt Taal Philippines

Mount Tambora

Lava won’t kill you if it briefly touches you. You would get a nasty burn, but unless you fell in and couldn’t get out, you wouldn’t die. With prolonged contact, the amount of lava “coverage” and the length of time it was in contact with your skin would be important factors in how severe your injuries would be!

Taal Volcano