Prof. Steve Sparks (Geographer): “If a super eruption
happened tomorrow you could argue that human
society currently is very vulnerable. When the last
super eruption occurred at Toba 74,000 years ago
there weren't many humans on the planet, they
may well have been affected, perhaps quite
dramatically in terms of their numbers being
reduced, but they fought back again otherwise we
wouldn't be here today, now we're dealing with a
planet of, with a population of six and a half billion
people.”
Cause/Formation...
In Yellowstone it is
caused by an
underground
HOTSPOT not plate
margins...
Mark Maslin (Geographer): “My personal
opinion is I have great faith in humanity, I
think if something like this did occur the
nations of the planet would pull together
because resources would be so limited that
they would have to be shared so I would
see this as an opportunity for humanity to
show itself in it's true light.”
Research/Consider how these could make the effects worse....
• Prevailing Wind Direction
• Migration problems
• Famine/Starvation
Who would be affected?
Experts believe that 2,000 million tonnes of sulphur
could be ejected 20-50km above the Earth.
It would take 2-3 weeks for the full effects to be
felt.
Geographers predict that the Monsoon rains in Asia
would fail causing mass starvation in India, China
and many other countries which rely on the water to
grow crops. Europe could be up to 5C cooler.
How will the ash affect the planet?
Within 3-4 days a fine dusting of ash could fall
across Europe.
• Greatest danger within 1000 km of the eruption zone
where 90% could be killed.
• Inhaling the deadly toxins within the ash would be
fatal over a period of time.
• Kill and sicken humans/animals, reduce sunlight,
trigger rainfall causing lahars, severely disrupt air,
road and rail travel.
• Crush buildings (only 30cm is needed)
• Contaminate water supplies
• Kill crops
• Clog machinery used by industry.
SUPERVOLCANOES –
EVIDENCE BOARD
Really useful Weblinks...
Discovery Channel Supervolcanoes
World Maps showing various factors
BBC Supervolcanoes
BBC News Report
Climate Change – only this time the opposite to Global Warming!
A much colder climate would result in many parts of the world. A so called ‘Nuclear Winter’ could result and even a possible mini ice age. Sulphuric
acid released as part of the ash cloud will build up in the upper atmosphere which would scatter sunlight making the sky look like a cloudy winter
morning all day long. The Northern Hemisphere would cool by up to 12C. The world would cool by 10C on average. Experts predict that the
cooling effects could be felt for 6-10 years.
The size of the
area affected could be 10 million
times the size of ‘Ground Zero’
in New York from 9/11
The world population
is currently 6.4bn
Your Challenge...
1.
2.
3.
You are working for ‘Federal Emergency Management Agency’ (FEMA) to make plans to deal with the effect
of a possible eruption at Yellowstone. At the end of the lesson you need to explain your predictions for the
effects in the world a year after the eruption. You must have:
An annotated world map showing where you think people will die, and where humanity could survive. It
needs a key and detailed annotations of the possible effects of the Yellowstone super-eruption. Be as precise
as possible using accurate figures for deaths and how countries have been affected.
An action plan for planet. Explain where you think survivors should live, how they will support themselves, and
what form their lives would take. Consider jobs, housing, health, education, food as a starting point.
Possible problems that could prevent your plans from working. Think about America’s relationship with
other countries, and the problems that a ‘global community’ might face. Consider the effects of Migration,
Food Shortage, Language Barriers, Culture Clashes and possible unrest/war.
How to start..
Use the evidence board as a starting point for your
research. Roughly annotate a world map to highlight
affected areas.
Research issues that you think would give you a
detailed analysis of the effects of a super-eruption. You
will need to know the population of different countries,
but also you may need to link to agriculture, weather
and climate and political issues.
Yellowstone