Scientists Once Thought a Supervolcano 74,000 Years Ago Almost Wiped Us Out — The Eruption Was Still One of the Biggest Ever

74,000 years ago, a supervolcano almost wiped out all of the humans in the world; however, scientists said they were wrong and that there was no genetic bottleneck observed during this time.

A genetic bottleneck refers to an event that significantly reduced the population of a particular living organism, leading to a decrease in genetic diversity, which can be observed through DNA analysis. However, it is still one of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever, and studying it will be crucial for the next event, because it will come.

A Truly Massive Eruption

Earth’s largest, most recent volcanic eruption happened in Indonesia. At Lake Toba in Sumatra, a supervolcano erupted about 74,000 years ago. It was so massive that scientists once thought it nearly caused our extinction, which was proven wrong by modern studies.

This supervolcano was a category VEI‑8 or Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8, which indicates that it has erupted more than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of volcanic material. However, the Toba eruption was so massive that it more than doubled that amount, approximately 2,800 km³.

It also released 100 times more sulfur than Mount Pinatubo in 1991, one of the biggest in recent years. For a lot of years, most scientists agreed that the Toba Eruption caused a dramatic global volcanic winter that dropped the temperature of the world by 15 °C. This is an amount that could threaten human survival, especially if it were so sudden.

Read more: Wikipedia

Did Humanity Nearly Vanish?

The Biggest Volcanic Eruption in Human History

The Toba Catastrophe Theory suggested that humanity was nearly wiped out by this event due to its disruption of the global climate, and not directly because of the lava hitting humans. However, if such an event occurred, it would have been traceable in our own DNA, but modern studies confirm that there was no genetic bottleneck or decrease in genetic variation during this time.

This means that it probably did not cause a global catastrophe to the point that it could’ve caused humanity’s extinction event. Our ancestors remain numerous and have continued spreading throughout the globe. However, it is a fact that this eruption was one of the biggest ever in our history.

Archaeological Evidence of Survival

Along with the genetic tests, scientists have also found some physical evidence of human ancestors in India surviving the Toba eruption and thriving after it. They have uncovered stone tools from both above and below the Toba ash layer. This simply indicates continued human habitation and resilience before and after the disaster at the same location.

This physical evidence, combined with DNA testing, confirms that the Toba eruption was not the global catastrophe we thought it was. However, studying it carefully should still be a priority, since scientists don’t have a reliable way to predict when a supervolcano such as Toba will erupt massively again.

Read more: Science Alert

Why It Still Matters Today

The Toba eruption remains one of the largest explosive eruptions in Earth’s history, which was proven to be capable of changing the global climate, various ecosystems, and even our human ancestors’ behavior.

Understanding one of the largest should give us insights on how to deal with the smaller eruptions that can still be deadly. It changed our expectations for volcanic threat, but it should not decrease our preparedness and resolve to survive in the face of environmental catastrophes.

The Super Volcano That Nearly Destroyed The Human Race | Catastrophe

Author's Final Thoughts

The Toba supervolcano eruption was so powerful that no volcanic eruption in recent years can even compare, and to the point that it made our scientists think it might have nearly caused human extinction. It did not erase humanity, but it did remind us just how resilient our ancestors are, and hopefully, some of those survival instincts are still within us, should another supervolcano erupt.

Read more: Scientists Say We Once Shared the Planet With at Least 8 Other Human Species — And Now We’re the Only Ones Left