Scientists warn of an impending volcanic eruption that humanity is unprepared for.

The Earth is facing a powerful volcanic eruption that could trigger "climatic chaos." Scientists are uncertain about the exact location of this eruption. In fact, any of the major active volcanoes around the world, from Iceland to Hawaii, could potentially erupt with a magnitude of 7. It could also be a series of eruptions. This is reported by Daily Mail.

According to climate professor Dr. Marcus Stoffel, such an event could lead to "climatic chaos" similar to the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815.

The eruption released 24 cubic miles of gases, ash, and rocks into the atmosphere, resulting in a sharp drop in global temperatures. This led to crop failures, widespread famine, outbreaks of disease, and tens of thousands of deaths.

Some even believe that the volcanic eruption inspired Mary Shelley to write "Frankenstein" while she was sheltering from unusually cold weather in Switzerland in 1816.

Since then, many volcanoes have erupted, but Tambora remains the last major eruption on the planet. More than 200 years later, scientists are warning that the world may be due for another.

Unlike the "Year Without a Summer" that followed the Tambora eruption, the megavolcano of the 21st century could intensify the destruction already caused by humanity's dependence on fossil fuels.

"The consequences could be even worse than in 1815. The world is more unstable now," explained geologist Dr. Michael Rampino.

Ironically, the greenhouse gases emitted over the last century may make the effects of such an eruption even colder.

Research by volcanologist Dr. Thomas Aubrey shows that a hotter and more turbulent atmosphere will spread sulfur dioxide and the cooling sulfate aerosols it creates more quickly, enhancing the cooling effect.

At the same time, last year, a volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland erupted, opening a crack 2.5 miles long from which hundreds of cubic meters of lava were ejected every second. Scientists warn that there is a one in six chance of an even more powerful volcanic eruption on Earth this century.

According to a study he conducted in collaboration with Dr. Aubrey for Nature Communications in 2021, our future, likely hotter atmosphere will absorb 30 percent more solar energy under certain "global warming" scenarios that are expected to occur soon.

"We anticipate that this will enhance surface cooling by 15 percent," said Dr. Aubrey.

However, as Dr. Stoffel, a professor at the University of Geneva, stated, volcanologists are only beginning to understand what might happen.

"When it comes to old volcanoes, we have very little data," — explained Stoffel, making it difficult to reconstruct models of their impact.

To compensate for this, climatologists, geologists, and other researchers are collecting atmospheric data frozen in time in ice cores and embedded in ancient tree rings.

These measurements show that several volcanic eruptions over the last few thousand years temporarily cooled the planet by about 1–1.5 degrees Celsius.

Geological data suggest that another major volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1257 — the massive eruption of Samalas — likely contributed to the onset of the "Little Ice Age," which lasted for centuries.

In contrast, it is more accurately known that the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 cooled the Earth for several years by about 0.5 degrees Celsius, based on modern satellite data that can record the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted.

Of course, even with these additional data, scientists still cannot predict what the upcoming eruption will be like.

He hopes that researching possible worst-case scenarios can help the public and policymakers better prepare for everything from evacuation plans to food aid preparations in case of global crop failures.

An eruption in the 21st century will affect a much more populated and interconnected world, where dramatic upheavals can have deadly and unexpected consequences.

According to Dr. Aubrey, climate change may even alter the behavior of the volcanoes themselves, noting that the melting and disappearance of glaciers above underground magma reservoirs can increase the pressure that keeps it in place.

He noted that more intense precipitation caused by climate change could also lead to explosions similar to "steam bomb" eruptions, as moisture seeps deep into cracks near both active and dormant volcanoes.

"We are currently working on mapping volcanoes that are most sensitive to climate change. Roughly speaking, we know this concerns regions where glaciers are melting rapidly, such as Iceland or Chile, as well as volcanoes that are highly affected by precipitation, like in Indonesia," Dr. Aubrey explained.

Dr. Aubrey stated that a study conducted in 2022 showed that about 716 volcanoes worldwide, or 58 percent of all known active and land-based volcanoes, could be triggered by more intense rainfall, increasing the likelihood of a dangerous mini ice age.

It should be noted that earlier scientists indicated that the melting of glaciers could trigger eruptions of hundreds of volcanoes that are currently dormant beneath the ice. Antarctica hides an ancient and long-forgotten threat beneath its icy cover. Beneath the ice of the white continent lie ancient volcanoes, most of which are dormant, but this may soon change.