Research shows One-in-Six chance of Major Volcanic Eruption

Victims were covered in ash as they tried to escape the doomed port city

Joel 2:30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke.

Important Takeaways:

  • Why scientists say the world must brace for the big one: New research has shown there’s a one in six chance of a mega-volcano eruption this century – and, as history shows, it would have terrifying consequences for mankind
  • This is not the plot of a Hollywood disaster movie, but rather a scenario based on previous eruptions and one that has a one-in-six chance of happening this century, according to an article published in the latest issue of the respected science journal Nature.
  • The grim prediction comes from Dr. Mike Cassidy, a volcanologist from the University of Birmingham, and Dr. Lara Mani, from Cambridge University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.
  • It’s based on deposits of sulphur — a main component of volcanic gases — found in ancient ice deposits in Antarctica and Greenland. These indicate how frequently major eruptions have happened in the past and so how likely they are in the future, and challenge what they call the ‘broad misconception’ that the risks of a major eruption are low.
  • Terrifyingly, those odds — equivalent to the roll of a dice — relate to an eruption rating of at least seven on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)
  • To put that in perspective, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which claimed the lives of around 16,000 people in Pompeii and other Italian cities in 79AD, rated five on the VEI.
  • The sulphur deposits found in Antarctica and Greenland suggest that there have been 97 large-magnitude explosions in the last 60,000 years, yet we have established the whereabouts of only a handful and the undiscovered ones may well be ready to blow again.
  • ‘Volcanoes can lie dormant for a long time, but still be capable of sudden and extraordinary destruction,’ explains Dr. Cassidy.

Read the original article by clicking here.

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