What happens if all the volcanoes on Earth erupt?

With hot lava flows flowing down and sparks in the clouds, the scene of a scary volcanic eruption is both amazing. So what happens if all volcanoes on Earth erupt simultaneously?

Scientists estimate that there are about 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth, regardless of the unspecified number of undersea volcanoes. Every day there are 10-20 volcanic eruptions on Earth. However, scientists believe that the ability of all these volcanoes to erupt at the same time is very low, to almost impossible.

But assuming this happens, what chance does the Earth have to survive? Parv Sethi, a geologist at Radford University, Virginia, said the answer is no.

Only the volcanoes on the ground that erupted were enough to trigger serious environmental impacts under the domino effect, with many times the power of nuclear bombs. Although molten lava will kill people who live near the volcano first, this number is not towering compared to those killed by climate change.

Volcanic eruption.(Photo: livescience.com)

Sethi predicted that if all the volcanoes on Earth erupted, a thick screen of ash would fill the Earth like a blanket and block all light from the Sun.

"The Earth will be completely engulfed in darkness. Without light, trees will not be able to photosynthesize and grow, crops will fail and temperatures will drop sharply," the scientist said. This ash screen will even cover the Earth within 10 years.

In fact, not all volcanoes are capable of producing large amounts of ash, for example volcanoes in Hawaii only produce lava. However, the US Geological Institute's list of 1,500 active volcanoes has names of super volcanoes that only need to erupt to submerge the entire United States in a thin layer of ash.

Even when surviving through the ash, another problem arises: acid rain . Emissions from volcanic eruptions contain a lot of hydrochloric, hydrogen fluorine, hydrogen sulfur and sulfur dioxide with high concentrations in the atmosphere that will cause acid rain, polluting groundwater and ocean surface.

Acid-contaminated sea water will cause corals and marine life to die massively, destroy ocean food chains and lead to mass extinction events, as happened in the Earth's past in the end of the Permian , Triad and Cretaceous periods.

In addition, the release of ash and gas into the atmosphere will prevent the sun's rays and cause the Earth's temperature to drop significantly, even for a short time.

Although the volcanic eruption also produced carbon dioxide that could heat the Earth, Sethi said, the amount of carbon dioxide generated from 1,500 volcanoes erupted at the same time was too great for the atmosphere poisoning and the temperature of the Earth rise too high, absolutely not a suitable habitat for humans.

In the face of a volcanic eruption, Sethi said that only extremophiles - extremely resistant bacteria - could survive. These are organic organisms that live in extremely harsh environments such as underground or deep-sea hot springs, where they are safe from surface destruction.

Another sci-fi scenario is also thought of, that only some survivors will shelter in underground bunkers built by the government and rich people, waiting for the disaster to pass, or leave Earth to fly into space.

"At that time, the luckiest people were the dead," Sethi said.