The Toba supervolcano eruption that occurred about 74,000 years ago is believed to be one of the worst events in Earth’s geological history.
There is a theory that the population on Earth once dwindled to just a few thousand individuals after a violent supervolcano erupted on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. That makes humans, in a short historical period, an endangered species.
Illustration of an erupting volcano. (Photo: Solarseven)
This hypothesis reinforces the possibility that all of humanity are much more closely related. Proponents call this the Toba Catastrophe hypothesis .
Earth Geological Research also shows that a supervolcano erupted near Lake Toba, Indonesia, about 74,000 years ago. Meanwhile, modern Homo sapiens evolved 200,000 years ago and recorded history only began about 6,000 years ago.
Described as “the most powerful eruption in human history” , the Toba volcanic disaster spewed massive amounts of dust and debris into Earth’s atmosphere, leaving the sky covered with a thick layer of soot obscuring the Sun. God.
The scale of this “volcanic winter” is still controversial, but some scientists think the volcanic ash may have reduced global temperatures by as much as 5 degrees Celsius in a few years. In the area around Toba, temperatures could drop as much as 15 degrees Celsius. More modest estimates suggest a drop of about 1 degree Celsius.
Meanwhile, research on modern climate change shows that a change of only 0.5 degrees Celsius can have a strong impact on the Earth and living things. The natural world can be turned upside down, plants cannot grow and animals perish.
A peaceful scene in Lake Toba today. (Photo: Franshendrik Tambunan).
After the eruption of the Toba supervolcano, another mysterious event also occurred. Evidence suggests that, about 70,000 years ago, humanity experienced a “genetic bottleneck ” – a sudden sharp decline in the global population . According to research by biology professor Michael R. Rampino at New York University, it’s even possible that only 3,000 to 10,000 people of reproductive age are still alive on Earth.
However, many people do not support the Toba Catastrophe hypothesis. In 2013, scientists studied sediments in East Africa, thousands of kilometers from the volcano, and argued that there was not much evidence of ash and very little evidence of significant temperature changes there.
“The eruption certainly caused some short-term effects, maybe for a few seasons, but it doesn’t appear to have caused the climate to shift into a new mode,” said Christine Lane, PhD, at the University of Oxford’s School of Archeology. lead author of the 2013 study, said.
Despite the many doubts surrounding the Toba Catastrophe hypothesis, the cause of the apparent decline in the world’s population during this period remains a mystery. But whatever the cause, human recovery is powerful. Genetic studies show that the population exploded about 50,000 years ago. Much evidence indicates that humans spread across the Eurasian continent and rapidly developed technology.
Over the past 40,000 years, humanity has really begun to thrive. Advances in technology and works of art showed that human cognitive abilities increased dramatically during this time, paving the way for the birth of agriculture and civilizations. Today, the world population stands at about 8 billion.