Earth has some massive volcanoes called "supervolcanoes" that can cause huge eruptions, way bigger than anything we’ve ever seen in modern times. Some of these, like Yellowstone in the U.S. and Campi Flegrei in Italy, show signs of activity that scientists are keeping a close eye on. A supervolcano eruption could release so much ash and gas into the atmosphere that it would block sunlight, leading to a dramatic drop in global temperatures and affecting food supplies. The idea that these giants are "waking up" sounds scary, but scientists work hard to monitor any changes and understand what’s happening deep below. Right now, they’re improving ways to detect early warning signs, like small earthquakes or rising ground, that might hint at an eruption. While we're not totally prepared, knowing more about these supervolcanoes helps us get ready, just in case. Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00Our planet's biggest and meanest supervolcanoes are waking up. When they erupt, you'll surely
00:06notice it, even if you live thousands of miles away from the epicenter. Scientists are worried
00:11we might not have enough time to prepare and deal with the consequences of a supereruption.
00:17There's some volcanic activity close to the Italian city of Naples. And no, it has
00:23nothing to do with the famous Mount Vesuvius, but with another volcano. This one is harder
00:29to see, as it doesn't have a tall peak like Vesuvius. But don't let this bad guy
00:33trick you. It could be way more dangerous than its giant neighbor. It does have a huge
00:38crater that's about 8 miles wide. This volcano is called Campi Flegrei, and it's actually
00:44one of the largest volcanoes in Europe, sitting under the town of Pozzuoli. So, Campi Flegrei
00:50erupted 39,000 years ago, with a bang so massive it spread ash across the whole Mediterranean
00:56region. It also caused the temperature to drop by over 16°F across Eastern Europe.
01:03It was the biggest volcanic eruption in Europe in 200,000 years. Since then, Campi Flegrei
01:09has had smaller eruptions, and the last one happened in 1538. Now the area is full of
01:14small craters, hot springs, and bubbling pools, and they're all proof that this volcano is
01:20still very much alive and brewing something. Since the early 2000s, the ground in the giant
01:26crater and the town nearby have been slowly rising by about 1 to 1.5 inches every year.
01:33There were at least 150 earthquakes that shook this supervolcano lately. In May 2024, there
01:39was a 4.4 magnitude in the area, the biggest in the last 40 years. Residents had to leave
01:45their homes and camp outside, fearing there would be more earthquakes. No one knows how
01:49Campi Flegrei is going to behave in the following months or years, but the authorities are organizing
01:55evacuation exercises to prepare the population just in case.
02:01The Italian volcano looks like an innocent kitten compared to the real giants like Yellowstone.
02:07For a volcano to deserve the title of a super one, it must be able to produce catastrophic
02:12scale eruptions and eject huge amounts of magma, ash, and volcanic gases. The Yellowstone
02:18giant meets these criteria. Even though it moves from time to time, the Yellowstone supervolcano
02:25hasn't erupted for 640,000 years. But when it does wake up, it might erupt with incredible
02:31power – about the same amount as 10 huge nuclear power stations can produce.
02:37Under the ground beneath Yellowstone, there's a super-hot area full of molten rock called
02:42magma. As more magma moves into a big space called a magma chamber, the ground above starts
02:48to swell or rise. When the magma cools down, the ground falls. Between 2004 and 2009, the
02:56ground at Yellowstone rose by almost 10 inches, but then it started to slowly go back down
03:02in 2010. Scientists aren't sure if it's going to erupt anytime soon.
03:07There's also another big volcano called Long Valley in California that has been active
03:13since 1980, and it can be a really big threat. Scientists studying this supervolcano found
03:19out that before its biggest eruption 760,000 years ago, the buildup may have taken less
03:25than a year. Now that's bad news, because a supervolcano eruption can have a huge effect
03:32on the world, like the eruption of the Toba volcano in Sumatra around 74,000 years ago.
03:39It became the biggest volcanic eruption the Earth had seen in 28 million years. It covered
03:44parts of Indonesia, India, and the Indian Ocean with a thick layer of volcanic debris,
03:50almost like a 6-inch blanket. The amount of rock it spewed out was like stacking nearly
03:553 million Empire State Buildings. The giant crater it left behind can still be seen from
04:00space. All the ash and gases shot up into the air and blocked some of the sunlight.
04:05It caused a volcanic winter that lasted about 6-10 years. Some scientists think this eruption
04:11might have even affected early humans. Around the time Toba erupted, the human population
04:17took a sharp dip, and there were far fewer people. Some say this is why all modern humans
04:22come from a small group of survivors. According to the Toba catastrophe theory, most early
04:27humans in Europe and Asia didn't survive the cold and harsh climate after the eruption,
04:32but a lucky group lived through all that in Africa. Not all scientists agree with this
04:37idea, and some archaeological and climate records show a different story.
04:44Another volcano that changed the world in a big way was Mount Tambora in 1815. The next
04:50year went down in history as the year without a summer. It was cold and rainy, and there
04:55was snow and frost even in the middle of summer, especially in Europe and North America. This
05:01happened because the volcano sent out a lot of sulfur dioxide into the sky, which spread
05:06all over the world and made the planet colder. When Tambora erupted, it caused huge tsunamis
05:12that smashed homes and took the lives of around 10,000 people. Afterward, about 80,000 more
05:18people passed away because of the consequences the eruption had caused in the world. The
05:22cold weather ruined crops, so food became really expensive. And because horses were
05:28the main way people traveled, the cost of oats that they ate went way up too. Some people
05:33even think this led to the invention of the bicycle in 1870 as a new way to get around.
05:39The eruption made the Earth colder for about 3 years. Even though the Tambora eruption
05:45was so powerful, Krakatoa, another volcano in Indonesia, stole the show when it erupted
05:51in 1883. It was just easier to spread information about it through telegrams and photos. Its
05:57final blast was the loudest recorded sound in history, and people could hear it on 10%
06:03of the entire Earth's surface. The eruption started a tsunami with waves about half as
06:08tall as the Statue of Liberty.
06:12If we only had 12 months to prepare for a supervolcano eruption, it would be really
06:17hard to store enough food and get ready. But don't panic just yet! Supervolcano eruptions
06:23are very rare, and the last one happened 26,500 years ago in New Zealand. Scientists
06:29think that a supereruption happens once every 100,000 years on average. But the sad part
06:35here is that the Earth doesn't follow a perfect timeline. There could be clusters
06:40of supereruptions with shorter gaps between them and then longer quiet periods. Since
06:45there have already been two supereruptions in the last 100,000 years, there's always
06:50a chance one could happen again sooner than we expect.
06:55Plus, although there are places like Yellowstone and Long Valley where we expect volcanoes
07:00to erupt, there are less obvious possible hotspots. In Chile, there's a volcano called
07:06Laguna del Male that has erupted in the past and left behind a huge crater. Over the last
07:1220 years, the ground there has been swelling really fast, rising up to almost 1 foot a
07:18Some people are worried that this could be a sign of a big eruption coming. But scientists
07:23say there's not enough magma yet to cause a supereruption. In Bolivia, the Jutirancu
07:28volcano is also acting up. It's part of a group of volcanoes that have caused supereruptions
07:34in the past. Since the 1960s, the ground around Jutirancu has been lifting, but the last eruption
07:41was 250,000 years ago. Even though the magma might be rising, it's not enough to worry
07:46about just yet. The chances of a supereruption happening during
07:51our lifetime are 1 in 1,400, which is pretty low, so you don't need to worry too much.
07:58But just like someone wins the lottery every week with very small chances, a supereruption
08:03could happen sometime in the future. And when it does, we'll need to be prepared.
08:09That's it for today! So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like
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