500,000 lives at risk as dangerous Campi Flegrei Supervolcano is Waking Up

A supervolcano that last erupted nearly 500 years ago and spewed ash across Europe for eight consecutive days is showing signs of reawakening.

The Campi Flegrei supervolcano which is 8 miles wide lies beneath the Bay of Naples in southern Italy and contains 24 craters along with numerous geysers and vents.


There has been a recent decrease in gas pressure at the supervolcano, which combined with an increase in temperature of the hydrothermal reservoir means the magma may be approaching critical degassing pressure, scientists wrote in the journal Nature on Dec 20, 2016.

The supervolcano is Italian for “Burning Fields” and has notable eruptions that occurred 39,000 and 12,000 years ago. The first eruption caused heinous weather changes, toxic levels of sulfur in the air which caused dark red sunsets for a year, and tons acid rain.

As the volcano sits directly under more than half a million people which means that at the moment the volcano will erupt, it would put the lives of all these people at risk. For comparison, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the Italian city of Pompeii in ash, it killed 2,000 people.

The Italian government has raised the threat level of the supervolcano from green to yellow, meaning that it now requires scientific monitoring 24/7, according to National Geographic.

 

A Day in Pompeii:

Zero One created a stunning animation to feel the same drama and terror of the town's citizens long ago, and witness how a series of eruptions wiped out Pompeii over 48 hours.