The hypothesis of the Toba volcanic eruption almost halted humanity

The controversial hypothesis attracts a lot of conflicting opinions about the period when people almost died.

In the list of the 40 largest volcanic eruptions in Earth history analyzed and evaluated by scientists, there is a bright spot: the biggest eruption in the past 1 million years is likely to have caused The first inhabitants of humanity's early birth had to suffer.

It was the Toba disaster, accompanied by a scary, creepy hypothesis.

Graphic simulating Toba volcanic eruption.

This Toba eruption is real, however, below is a series of theories analyzed by scientists based on the found evidence. It is possible that there may also be no consequences after the Toba eruption .

The eruption

The super-volcanic eruption of Toba takes place about 75,000 (± 900) years ago, at what is today Toba Lake , in Sumatra, Indonesia. The Toba disaster hypothesis suggests that volcanic eruptions have caused a volcanic winter - a phenomenon caused by volcanic ash.

At the same time due to sulfuric acid particles and water particles blocking light coming from outer space, increasing the reflectivity of solar radiation is 6-10 years long, making it take 1,000 years for it to cool to normal temperature. .

Satellite image of Toba lake, Sumatra, Indonesia.

The volcanic explosion list (VEI) of this eruption is 8, the highest index in the list of known eruptions. It is the main cause of the 100x30 km wide area in Indonesia. Estimates show that the Toba eruption brought out 2,800km ^{3 of} magma (about 7,000,000,000,000kg = 7 trillion tons), with 800km ³ ash. The geological samples taken from the South China Sea show that the 2,800km ^{3 of} the amount of Toba matter is still modest.

These figures point out that the Toba eruption is 100 times larger than the largest volcanic eruption in modern history, the Tambora volcanic eruption in Indonesia also caused the "No-Summer Summer" 1816 at the Hemisphere. North. It is estimated that a 15-cent-thick mass of ashes covered South Asia and spread to the South China Sea, even to the Indian Ocean.

The volcanic winter and the cooling phase, are calculated by computer simulation

Biologist Michael R. Rampino and the volcanic home of Stephen Self said that the eruption caused a prolonged "volcanic winter" , causing the Earth's surface temperature to be about 3-5 degrees Celsius. taken from the ice cores in Greenland shows that in Earth's history, there was a low temperature range lasting approximately 1,000 years.

The two scientists believe that the volcanic eruption was the cause of the prolonged "volcanic winter" , they believed that at that time, global cooling was taking place, the Toba eruption was "water droplets overflow" of 75,000 years ago. Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanic scientist, refused to acknowledge the theory of "overflowing water", but agreed that the Toba eruption had cooled the global climate.

According to an analysis of Alan Robbock, the scientist had a lot of research on nuclear winter, saying that the Toba eruption did not make the Earth into the ice age. But because of the massive eruption, an estimated 6 billion tons of sulfur dioxide flew into the air, the model of Robbock's computer simulation showed that the Earth had cooled to about 15 degrees Celsius within three years, the reduction. Global temperatures take decades, making life difficult for Earth to continue to exist.

The climate gradually recovered over the next few decades, however Robbock found no link between the Toba eruption and the 1,000-year low temperature range that evidence in the ice in Greenland points out, without evidence. prove the "drop of water" event just mentioned.

Although the estimates of different scientists, they all agree that the Toba eruption has thrown a huge amount of gas and ash into the air, enough to affect global weather and climate. .

The controversial hypothesis of the Toba eruption almost caused the destruction of Homo sapien, the human ancestor

Researchers have long known that modern humans do not have the same genetic diversity as primates such as chimpanzees or gorillas, even though our numbers reach billions. There is one reason to explain: it is possible that humans have experienced a "population bottleneck" event - a large part of the species has been destroyed or has no way of reproduction, making the number of individuals reduced.

It is suspected that the Toba volcanic eruption is related to this event. According to the Toba disaster hypothesis, between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, the number of individuals dropped to only 3,000 to 10,000. Some scientists believe that the Toba eruption has caused the Earth to enter a prolonged volcanic winter period, which causes food resources to run out.

St. VolcanoHelens, before and after the eruption.

This hypothesis encounters a multitude of conflicting opinions. It was found that the Indian stone tool lay above the ash from the Toba eruption, indicating that Toba had not caused the massacre of Sapien Homo.

Evidence found in North and South India indicates that volcanic ash has not affected so much on human life.

But South Asia forests are heavily affected, causing indigenous people to find ways to adapt to new life. The researchers mentioned the main possibility that Homo Sapien found a way to survive the terrible Toba catastrophe so it was able to grow, replacing other strains, such as the Neaderthal. .

Huge volcanic ash column.

Epilogue

The fact that people were able to face the scourge of disaster really scary hair. It is possible that the Homo sapien did not survive the hunt and gather, using stone tools to build a large high-rise house, living in a modern society like today. Fortunately, life still finds its own way, still overcome all disasters that are in danger of extinction, or at least until now.

Each time facing different disasters: we are facing the risk of waste, from the depletion of natural resources, from the population explosion. That is not to mention the dangers coming from outer space: meteorites, solar storms or even aliens .

That's why we consider moving to another planet to stay.