When humans nearly vanished : the catastrophic explosion of the Toba volcano
(Book)

Includes index.

"The fascinating true story of the explosion of the Mount Toba supervolcano--earth's largest volcanic eruption in the past 28 million years--and its lasting impact on both the planet and human evolution. Some 74,000 years ago, the huge dome of Mount Toba, in today's Sumatra, Indonesia, began to rumble. Deep vibrations shook the earth, and jets of steam and ash emanated from the restive volcano's summit. Then came an explosion louder than any sound heard by Homo sapiens since our species evolved on earth. As the volcano ripped open, the energy of a million tons of TNT was released. Seven hundred cubic miles of magma spewed outward in an explosion 40 times larger than the biggest hydrogen bomb and more than a thousand times as powerful as the famed Krakatau eruption in 1883. So much ash and debris were injected into the stratosphere that they partially blocked the sun's radiation and caused global temperatures to drop by five to nine degrees. The earth took a full decade to recover to its pre-eruption temperatures--and untold millions of animals, including early members of our own species, died. [This book] examines the controversial argument that the Toba catastrophe nearly wiped out the human race, leaving only a few thousand breeding pairs of humans worldwide. The evidence is in our DNA, which reveals traces of a genetic bottleneck--a radical reduction in genetic diversity seen only when a population of organisms is dramatically diminished. This sparse group of survivors could be the ancestors of all humans alive today. Providing vivid explanations of how supervolcanoes work and how proof of the Toba eruption was teased out of geological, climate, and genetic data, Donald R. Prothero explores both findings supporting the Toba bottleneck theory and the arguments rallied against it. Offering insight into how the world changed in the aftermath of Toba--and what might happen should such a supervolcano erupt today--Prothero's riveting account of this event, both calamitous and pivotal, is not to be missed."--Dust jacket.

"The true story of the explosion of the Mount Toba supervolcano, the largest eruption in the past 28 million years, and its lasting impact on Earth and human evolution."--,Provided by publisher.

Various historic volcanoes, and the ability to survive them. It includes the Toba volcano, from Indonesia.