Imagine living through one of the most massive volcanic eruptions in history—Toba’s supereruption, about 74,000 years ago, was exactly that. For our ancient relatives, it was like the world turned upside down, with ash blanketing the sky and temperatures plummeting. The eruption created a "volcanic winter" that likely made food scarce and survival incredibly tough. Some scientists believe this event may have even pushed our ancestors to the brink of extinction. But those who survived became more resilient, adapting to the harsh conditions. It was a true test of endurance, shaping the course of human evolution.
00:00The latest super eruption of Yellowstone occurred 640,000 years ago, and it was long before Homo sapiens saw the light of day.
00:10But we were around, during another, no less devastating natural disaster.
00:15This super eruption took place on the island of Sumatra around 74,000 years ago.
00:21That's when an erupting super volcano wreaked havoc on huge territories,
00:25sending up plumes of debris and ash that spread for thousands of miles and caused temperatures on the planet to plummet.
00:34The effects of this super eruption were visible as far away as southern Africa.
00:40Experts believe they could have impacted early humans there.
00:43By the time the volcano erupted, our ancestors had already been using stone tools and had likely known how to produce yarn.
00:50And some specialists even think that the Toba super eruption was so powerful,
00:56it could push our ancestors to the brink of extinction.
01:00They claim that Toba might be the largest volcanic eruption to occur on Earth within the last 2 million years.
01:08The eruption disgorged so much pyroclastic rock,
01:11it would be enough to cover the entire United States to the depth of a one-story house.
01:16About a third of that deposit piled up on northern Sumatra,
01:20while a lot more ended up beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean.
01:25The super eruption left an elliptical crater lake around 60 miles long.
01:30The caldera is so large, it's hard to feel that you're indeed in a volcano.
01:36Pumace deposits from the eruption remain in the canyon walls and go deep below the ground.
01:41There aren't many arguments about the amount of pumice and ash involved in this disaster.
01:48At the same time, experts aren't sure how much sulfur ended up in the atmosphere.
01:52Even some sulfur layers in the polar ice could be potential candidates.
01:57But so far, scientists haven't found any connection between them and Toba.
02:02But let's get back to the dramatic impact the super eruption had on early humans.
02:08It turns out, some not only survived, but even thrived after this natural catastrophe,
02:14at least judging by the artifacts they made during and after the eruption.
02:19The disaster might not have posed a serious threat to those of our ancestors who took refuge along the coast.
02:25Genetic evidence hints that modern humans descend from a few thousand people that ventured out of Africa around 60,000 years ago.
02:35Why just a few thousand?
02:37According to some experts, the rest of our ancestors could have been devastated by the Toba eruption.
02:44After all, the super volcano spewed out a thousand cubic miles of dust and rock in a flash,
02:51leaving a scar in the ground that was dozens of miles wide.
02:54All that dust and sulfur Toba sent into the atmosphere potentially cooled the surface of our planet,
03:00which led to the appearance of glaciers and the lowering of Earth's sea levels.
03:06And since Toba might have had an important role in shaping humankind,
03:10scientists have been working hard trying to understand precisely how early humans reacted to this disaster.
03:17In 2011, several researchers found an enigmatic soil sample in South Africa's Pinnacle Point,
03:25an archaeological site overlooking the Indian Ocean.
03:28This sample contained some volcanic ash.
03:32After examining the layer, they found more than 400,000 artifacts left by early humans.
03:38Based on this finding, the team suggested that early humans on the South African coast thrived after the eruption,
03:51living in that area for thousands of years and improving their tools.
03:56The region might have served as a refuge during and after the Toba eruption.
04:01A 2009 study suggested that the eruption could have lowered global temperatures by 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
04:09It would have made survival tough elsewhere in Africa.
04:12If there had been a volcanic winter, it wouldn't have been as cold along the coastline.
04:17On the other hand, newer studies claim that Toba spewed out so much sulfur into the atmosphere
04:23that the resulting aerosols could have stuck together,
04:26which would have limited their cooling effect in the long term.
04:30In other words, right after the eruption, temperatures would have plummeted, but only in some regions.
04:37And after three years or so, the effects of the eruptions would have calmed down altogether,
04:41becoming not dangerous to humans.
04:44Well, apparently, more research is needed.
04:46Meanwhile, let's figure out if we should watch out for any volcanoes these days.
04:53Last year, thousands of small earthquakes shook the ground near Iceland's Fartsangi geothermal power plant.
05:00Magma rose to the surface there, and now it has opened wide fractures slicing through the small town of Grindavík.
05:08The ground there is still swelling, and an eruption might happen with little notice.
05:13But of course, that's not all.
05:15Over the planet, 45 other volcanoes keep rumbling.
05:20For example, Italy's Vesuvius, that infamous thing that finished the city of Pompeii in 79 CE.
05:27Over the last 17,000 years, the volcano has experienced eight explosive eruptions, followed by powerful pyroclastic flows,
05:36dense masses of super-hot ash, lava fragments, and gases flowing at high speeds.
05:42The volcano's last eruption happened in 1944.
05:46Mount Rainier is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the USA.
05:51Its high elevation, chemical composition, and proximity to Washington's Seattle and Tacoma suburbs and the volcano's ability to produce massive pyroclastic flows make Mount Rainier a threat to consider.
06:04The heat from this volcano could potentially melt the ice and snow covering it, leading to rapid downstream flows of debris, mud, and rocks.
06:13The Novorupta volcano in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Reserve formed in a 1912 eruption, which was the world's largest in the 20th century.
06:24The volcano sent almost 7 cubic miles of ash and debris into the air.
06:30It also produced such a powerful ash flow that it created the Valley of 10,000 Smokes.
06:37Mount Pinatubo is located in a populated region in the Philippines.
06:42It became notorious after a 1991 massive eruption, which was the second-largest eruption of the 20th century.
06:49More than 700 people lost their lives during that natural disaster.
06:55Today, more than 21 million people live within 62 miles of Pinatubo.
07:01Mount Agan, a continuously erupting volcano in Indonesia, had its last major eruption in 1963.
07:09It was one of the most tragic eruptions in the country's history.
07:12It lasted for 11 months, producing ashfall and pyroplastic flows that led to the loss of more than 1,000 lives and serious property damage.
07:24People saw ash plumes above the volcano throughout 2018, following the eruption in November 2017.
07:33Japan's Mount Fuji hasn't erupted since 1707.
07:37That year, a massive earthquake likely set it off.
07:40In 2014, experts warned that Fuji could be at risk of another eruption, following the 9-magnitude earthquake that shook Japan in 2011.
07:50Experts believed the earthquake had raised pressure below Fuji.
07:55The eruption in 1707 sent so much ash and debris into the air that all this mass even reached Tokyo.
08:02Should Fuji erupt again, it would affect more than 25 million people in the surrounding areas.
08:08The eruption of Washington's Mount St. Helen in 1980 was one of the most destructive volcanic events in U.S. history.
08:1857 people, as well as thousands of animals, lost their lives during that natural disaster.
08:25The eruption also destroyed around 200 square miles of forest.
08:29Experts think that Mount St. Helen's history of massive eruptions means that future catastrophes are bound to happen.
08:37The next explosive eruption might send large amounts of ash all over the Pacific Northwest.
08:43No wonder the volcano is under close monitoring.
08:45One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, Mount Merupi, has been erupting for centuries.
08:53NASA claims that the biggest risk of this volcano is pyroclastic flows, which can spread over vast areas and harm loads of people.
09:02For the last time, Merupi erupted in January 2024, sending plumes of smoke into the air.
09:09These days, more than 24 million people live in the area surrounding this volcano.
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