Instances of volcanic eruptions are their highest for 300 years and
scientists fear a major one that could kill millions and devastate the
planet is a real possibility.
Experts at the European Science
Foundation said volcanoes – especially super-volcanoes like the one at
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, which has a caldera measuring 34 by
45 miles (55 by 72 km) - pose more threat to Earth and the survival of
humans than asteroids, earthquakes, nuclear war and global warming.
There
are few real contingency plans in place to deal with the ticking time
bomb, which they conclude is likely to go off within the next 80 years.
The
world's most dangerous active volcanoes include Yellowstone, Mount
Vesuvius in Campagnia, Italy, and Popocatépetl i near Mexico City.
If
any of them or other massive volcanic peaks suffered a major eruption
the team said millions of people would die and earth’s atmosphere would
be poisoned with ash and other toxins "beyond the imagination of
anything man’s activity and global warming could do over 1,000 years.
The
chance of such as eruption happening at one of the major volcanoes
within 80 years is put at five to ten per cent by the experts.
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