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| Volcanoes are the biggest threat to human survival, claim scientists |
Yellowstone about to blow?
Scientists warning over SUPER-VOLCANO that could kill MILLIONS
SCIENTISTS have warned the world is in
"volcano season" and there is up to a 10% chance of an eruption soon
killing millions of people and devastating the planet.
Instances of volcanic eruptions are their highest
for 300 years and scientists fear a major one that could kill millions and
devastate the planet is a real possibility.
Experts at the
European Science Foundation said volcanoes – especially super-volcanoes like
the one at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, which has a caldera measuring 34
by 45 miles (55 by 72 km) - pose more threat to Earth and the survival of
humans than asteroids, earthquakes, nuclear war and global warming.
There are few
real contingency plans in place to deal with the ticking time bomb, which they
conclude is likely to go off within the next 80 years.
The world's most dangerous active volcanoes include
Yellowstone, Mount Vesuvius in Campagnia, Italy, and Popocatépetl i near Mexico
City.
If any of them
or other massive volcanic peaks suffered a major eruption the team said
millions of people would die and earth’s atmosphere would be poisoned with ash
and other toxins "beyond the imagination of anything man’s activity and
global warming could do over 1,000 years.
The chance of
such as eruption happening at one of the major volcanoes within 80 years is put
at five to ten per cent by the experts.
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| Yellowstone does not appear like many volcanoes but is believed to have the most magma underneath |
There are
already fears that Yellowstone could
blow any time within the next 70 years on a scale that would wiped out the
western USA and affect the course of global history.
The
report - “Extreme Geo-hazards: Reducing the Disaster Risk and Increasing
Resilience,” warns global government's preparations for such happenings are
virtually non-existent.
It said: "Although in the last few decades
earthquakes have been the main cause of fatalities and damage, the main global
risk is large volcanic eruptions that are less frequent but far more impactfull
than the largest earthquakes.
“Due
to their far-reaching effects on climate, food security, transportation, and
supply chains, these events have the potential to trigger global disaster and
catastrophe.
"The
cost of response and the ability to respond to these events is beyond the
financial and political capabilities of any individual country.”
The report looked at other major geo-hazards facing
the globe, including earthquakes, drought, asteroids floods, tsunamis,
hurricanes, avalanches and wildfires.
Large
earthquakes and tsunamis have happened more in the last 2,000 years, meaning
there was better preparedness.
The report concluded: “Volcanic eruptions can have more severe impacts through atmospheric
and climate effects and can lead to drastic problems in food and water
security, as emphasized by the widespread famine and diseases that were rampant
after the Laki 1783 and Tambora 1815 eruptions.
“Hence
extreme volcanic eruptions pose a higher associated risk than all other natural
hazards with similar recurrence periods, including asteroid impacts.”
The eruption of
Tambora on Sumbawa, Indonesia killed about 100,000 people, but ash clouds meant
there was no summer the following year and it was “one of the most important climatic and socially repercussive events of
the last millennium,” the report said.
The earlier Icelandic event killed close to 10,000
instantly, but the long-term, effects wiped out 25% of the population and were
felt across the planet.
A famine in
Egypt reduced the population by one sixth, 25,000 died in the UK from breathing
problems and there was worldwide extreme weather.
Similar scale
events today would be much more catastrophic, the team warned, due to
much bigger
populations, global travel and food chains and reliance on technology.
Worryingly,
scientists say research over the last 300 years of volcanic activity shows we
are currently in a "volcano season" meaning increased activity.
Volcanoes are
also more likely from November to April in the northern hemisphere when ice,
rain and snowfall can compress the bedrock.
Related Posts:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/632054/Yellowstone-about-to-blow-1-in-10-chance-super-volcano-will-kill-millions?_ga=1.69982928.155560050.1464256228
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