Many previously believed that a volcanic eruption in Siberia was responsible for the climate catastrophe. However, new evidence shows that the world’s climate is already changing. Researchers in “natureA new study published in the journal confirms that several supervolcanic eruptions in eastern Australia may have helped accelerate climate change millions of years ago.
Between 256 million and 252 million years ago, the supereruption shook eastern Australia, the researchers said. These supereruptions may have been an important cue for the massive climate change the world was experiencing at the time.
During these eruptions, researchers believe the eruptions spewed large amounts of gas and ash into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gas emissions have been the main cause of rising global temperatures. The levels of gas released by these eruptions would easily play a role in the world’s biggest climate catastrophe. The resulting spread of ash is consistent with some of the largest volcanic eruptions we know of, the researchers said.
In addition, the researchers say evidence of the eruptions, and their source, can be found in preserved volcanic erosion remnants in the New England region of New South Wales.
In addition, as the researchers noted, light-colored layers of volcanic ash can be found buried in sedimentary rocks. They found these layers in large areas in NSW and even Queensland. More intriguing, however, is the scale of the supervolcanic eruption. Their size makes sense, especially if they helped cause the world’s biggest climate catastrophe.
The study’s authors believe the volcanoes spewed at least 150,000 cubic kilometres of material into northern NSW over those four million years. For comparison, the deadly eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 ejected about 1 cubic kilometer of rock and material. Even the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 produced only about 3-4 cubic kilometers of material.
The researchers involved in this study are alsoThe Conversationpublished a detailed article describing their findings. In the article, they share more about how these supervolcanic eruptions played a role in causing the world’s biggest climate catastrophe to date.
