Under Naples, Italy, lies a giant rumbling from its sleep. Italy’s Campi Flegrei, which means “burning fields” in Italian, is a Super Volcano that was formed roughly 40,000 years ago. A speculation from some theorists say that the eruption from the formation of this behemoth could have potentially led to the extinction and disappearance of the Neanderthals roughly 40,000 years ago. Ironically, it is located only 6 miles away from Mt. Vesuvius, which we all know destroyed Pompeii.
What is a super volcano? A super volcano can erupt and throw magma over 240 cubic miles. To state an example from Owlcation, Mt. Vesuvius produced 100,000 cubic yards of magma per second during it’s legendary explosion. “If Mt. Vesuvius had been a super volcano, it would have produced 100 million cubic yards of magma per second.”
Wow. Can you imagine the absolute damage that this would cause? If you can’t, that’s alright, because it’s barely comprehensible. Let me help you out though with some facts.
Yellowstone National Park actually has a super volcano, which last erupted some 640,000 years ago. The ash absolutely covered everywhere from California to Minnesota. If Yellowstone erupted today the ash would be so thick that roofs would collapse on houses in the states around the park.
Also, the death toll from the eruption would be instantaneous and kill tens of thousands of people. Respiratory problems from the ash would emerge. A blast from a super volcano thrusts the vast quantities of ash and also gases into the air, it would block solar radiation and cause global cooling. The reason is sulfur dioxide erupts from the volcano, which then combine with oxygen in the upper atmosphere. Then they form sulfuric acid which reflects the sunlight away from the earth and thusly causes global cooling.
In fact, when Mt. Tambora erupted in 1815 it caused a cold spell in 1816. It is commonly referred to as the “Year Without a Summer”. The blast from this volcano was 100 times more powerful that Mt. St. Helens infamous eruption, according to USA TODAY. Mt. Tambora is located in Indonesia and is considered the deadliest volcanic eruption in human history, with around 71,000 deaths. The sulfuric acid in the atmosphere cooled global temperatures approximately 3 degrees.
How would the eruption of Campi Flegrei effect us today? Despite sitting on a population of nearly 500,000 people, if this super volcano awoke and erupted to it’s full capacity we could experience a global change. Planes would go down, signals would be lost, all communication services could be shut down by this eruption.
From National Geographic, Scientists believe that magma could be approaching the CDP, which stands for critical degassing pressure. If there was a sudden release of hot magmatic gas it could trigger a large eruption. Although, the scientists do believe that the timing of any event is largely unknown and impossible to predict.
Preventive measures are hard to take because this natural force is so extreme. However, it’s good to be aware and try to be as prepared as possible.
