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What if there were never any volcanoes at all? Would Earth still be the same?
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00:00When you think of a volcano, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
00:05Streams of red, steaming hot lava pouring over the sides?
00:08Dark clouds of ash rising high into the sky?
00:11Maybe you think of a relaxing hot spring?
00:14Ah, that's nice.
00:16Well, we all imagine one thing.
00:18A cone-shaped mountain looming over the horizon.
00:21But it can be as green and lush as any other mountain.
00:24At the top, of course, there's a giant hole.
00:27Like an opening that goes all the way down.
00:31Inside, there's lava and gases being pushed outside.
00:35Lava is so hot that if you were standing at the top of the volcano and looked down,
00:39your face would feel as red as the color of that liquid rock oozing out.
00:45A volcanic eruption never comes without consequences for us.
00:48And I'm not just talking about people living nearby.
00:51The impacts are usually felt on a global scale, too.
00:56Can't fly for a while because of the blanket of ash released in the air.
01:00Not to mention, it might be a bit tricky to breathe.
01:04Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and plenty of other toxic gases whose names immediately take you back to your high school
01:10chemistry class.
01:11Funny enough, most of that cloud rising out of a volcano is just water.
01:17Well, vaporized from those scalding temperatures.
01:21But before any volcano erupts, it goes through stages like an angsty teen.
01:26First, magma, that's lava before it erupts onto the surface and gets its name change,
01:31starts moving underneath the volcano.
01:33This causes earthquakes that get worse and more dangerous over time.
01:39Then, steam and different gases start spewing out of holes in the planet's crust.
01:45Our Earth resembles a tea kettle about to whistle.
01:48When the gas emissions and earthquakes get more massive,
01:52it usually means the volcano is about to blow its top.
01:55But those first stages can take years before an eruption happens.
02:01Then, the magma starts building up.
02:03With more and more pressure, it's planning to make its great escape.
02:07It's hard to notice this happening if you don't have the proper equipment.
02:11Good thing scientists do, and they've got us covered.
02:15The volcano becomes more active by the minute.
02:18Ash starts coming out and spreading in the air,
02:21creating ominous clouds that turn day to night.
02:24With the magma building up, an eruption is imminent.
02:28Then, boom!
02:30The surface gives in under the pressure below.
02:33The magma makes its exit.
02:35It's now lava spewing out the top and flowing down the sides of the mountain.
02:41None of this sounds very appealing.
02:43So, what if it never happened?
02:46What if there were never any volcanoes at all?
02:49Would Earth still be the same?
02:51Not at all.
02:52If volcanoes never existed, there wouldn't be an atmosphere.
02:57When our planet was still just a young pup,
03:00volcanic gases are what created our protective bubble
03:03that allows you and me to breathe right now.
03:06They also played a big part in shaping the land and oceans.
03:10Four billion years ago, Earth was still forming.
03:13It didn't look anything like the pale blue dot we know today.
03:17It was red hot, and the water was trapped under the crust.
03:21It wasn't until the surface started to cool down and solidify
03:25that the water was finally able to escape.
03:28Volcanoes acted sort of like a tear in the fabric of our planet.
03:33Water vapor would condense in the atmosphere
03:35and then fall back down as rain.
03:37It rained for so long that the third planet from the sun
03:41started turning into the blue ball we're more familiar with.
03:45In fact, there's even a theory that all the water on Earth came from volcanoes.
03:50And without water, of course, life wouldn't have been able to form.
03:55Land formation went through a similar process.
03:58You see, our planet was a pretty rough place to be when it was forming.
04:02It was a molten surface with fields of lava
04:05and constant volcanic eruptions and space rocks always crashing into it
04:09because there was no atmosphere to protect it.
04:12When it started cooling down, a good solid surface formed.
04:17But the hot material underneath was still boiling and bubbling,
04:20and it continued making its way up.
04:24The crust would move and form thick layers with the material that was rising up.
04:29Over time, these layers became more permanent.
04:32Volcanic eruptions were still happening,
04:34but the first landmass had finally formed.
04:38Okay, we'll take the best part of volcanoes, an atmosphere.
04:42So what if they stopped erupting
04:44long after we got our protective breathable shield?
04:47Still not good.
04:49For starters, volcanoes created the most fertile soil.
04:53Around Naples, you have the famous Mount Vesuvius.
04:57The soil quality there is incredibly rich,
05:00and that's thanks to two huge volcanic eruptions,
05:03one that happened 35,000 years ago,
05:06and another 12,000 years ago.
05:09Sure, these volcanoes caused a lot of short-term damage,
05:13but in the long run, these soils were fertilized by them.
05:17Now the region grows all kinds of citrus fruits, olives,
05:22grapes, cherries, and, of course, their staple, tomatoes.
05:26There'd be none of that without rich volcanic soil,
05:29and Naples is by far not the only example like this.
05:34Bacteria, the first living organisms, lived in hot water.
05:38Scientists have discovered fossilized microorganisms
05:41older than 4 billion years.
05:43They thrived in hydrothermal vents.
05:46Those are fissures on the seafloor,
05:48and they're usually near volcanically active places.
05:52This means that without volcanoes,
05:55we wouldn't have land, water,
05:57or even the first life forms that, as the theory goes,
06:00would eventually evolve into all the creatures we have today.
06:04Could life have still developed on Earth
06:06without these explosive mountains?
06:08Eh, doubtful.
06:10Okay, fair enough.
06:11We want our atmosphere and life.
06:13So let's say volcanoes stopped erupting today,
06:17after we already have all these benefits.
06:20Well, we're sort of already there, based on this story.
06:24At the start, there was only one continent, Pangaea.
06:28It was a supercontinent surrounded by one massive,
06:31continuous superocean.
06:33Volcanic activity by this time had finally calmed down,
06:36and this meant all that energy would gather below the Earth's crust.
06:41Here's a little diagram.
06:42First, we have the Earth's inner core.
06:45Then there's the outer core.
06:47Next up, we have our convection currents.
06:50Magma is next in line.
06:52After that, the oceanic crust.
06:54And at the very top, we have our ocean and our continental crust.
06:59The reason Pangaea eventually broke up
07:01into the separate continents we have today
07:03is because of plate tectonics.
07:05It's not like the crust is all one solid piece.
07:08It's broken up into big chunks, or plates,
07:11that are always moving.
07:13And it's all still moving today.
07:16Yes, the land you're standing on right now
07:18is sort of surfing on that layer of convection currents.
07:21It's a slow process, so it's not like you can feel it.
07:25Pangaea didn't break apart all at once.
07:27It took tens of millions of years.
07:29When the plates move, they cause earthquakes and volcanic activity.
07:34They create mountains, too.
07:36It's good for our planet as well,
07:38because the Earth gets to sort of renew its old crust.
07:41If there was no volcanic activity now,
07:44the pressure underneath the Earth's crust would keep building up.
07:48It'd get to a boiling point the continents couldn't handle anymore.
07:51And eventually, they'd start splitting into more numerous and smaller masses.
07:57Volcanoes are still useful to us till this day.
08:00For one, they cool our atmosphere.
08:03Their eruptions release sulfur gas.
08:05It combines with water in our atmosphere
08:08and cools it at its lowest level,
08:10which is where we live and breathe.
08:13There's also an excellent use for their heat.
08:17Geothermal power plants harness the energy coming from deep inside the Earth
08:21and turn its heat into steam.
08:23We then use that steam and turn it into electricity.
08:27This is the case for our friends in New Zealand and Iceland,
08:31since they live in places with high underground temperatures.
08:35Volcanic material can also be made into blocks for building stuff.
08:39It can be grounded down to make cement, too.
08:42If we want, we can even search volcanoes for precious minerals,
08:46like gold, copper, and sulfur.
08:50And who can forget about hot springs?
08:52Tourism to places like Yellowstone and Iceland
08:55wouldn't be the same without them.
08:57And who doesn't love a nice steamy dip in the ones safe for swimming?
09:01Oh, yeah.
09:03Alert! Alert!
09:05Leave all your things behind and find safety immediately!
09:08The southern continent has just erupted!
09:11This is not a drill!
09:13You see people running around, screaming their heads out!
09:17Cars bumping into each other!
09:19The whole nation is in panic!
09:21You're on the southern coast of Australia,
09:23but the sky is black, and it stretches further than your eye can see!
09:27Your friend in southern India calls you and says the same thing.
09:31There's ash in the sky, and it's raining down on you!
09:34You hear rumbling in the distance, and it isn't even your stomach to blame.
09:40Everyone starts running inland.
09:42The black clouds swallow up everything in sight.
09:45Cars, trees, buildings!
09:47You're unable to see anything in front of you.
09:50Everyone's confused and scared.
09:52A tsunami breaches the shores, covering everything in its path.
09:56This is the Great Antarctic Eruption.
10:00Antarctica is that big continental desert covered in ice.
10:04In fact, it's technically the largest desert in the world.
10:08It's also covered with a whole lot of volcanoes, just chilling around.
10:13Scientists discovered that there are 138 volcanoes in Antarctica,
10:1891 of which are hidden beneath the icy surface, and 47 on top.
10:24And there might even be more.
10:26But most of these volcanoes are dormant.
10:29And for a volcano to be dormant, it has to be fast asleep for the last 50,000 years.
10:35The last volcano eruption was Mount Erebus in the western part of the continent.
10:40It's the most active volcano in the south side of the world,
10:44and is roughly 12,500 feet above sea level.
10:47That's as high as stacking the Burj Khalifa on top of itself five times.
10:52There's a whole bunch of these volcanoes stretched across the entire continent.
10:57In the most concentrated region, the volcanoes spread the distance equivalent to that between Canada and Mexico.
11:03And that's not even all of them.
11:06Scientists have warned that if any of these interior ice-contained volcanoes were to erupt,
11:12they'd melt the western Antarctic part of the land and increase the spill of ice into the ocean.
11:17It would raise the sea level and flood many endangered lands that are already at risk.
11:23And that's not mentioning the tectonic plates shifting underneath the surface,
11:27which allows some of the magma to squeeze its way to some surfaces.
11:31It's scary enough to expect what would happen if a huge volcano erupted.
11:35But what would happen if all the volcanoes in the Antarctic continent erupted at the same time?
11:42If you were one of those scientists on a boat, on their way to conduct some experiments,
11:47you would begin to feel unease.
11:49You'd notice the water carrying a bit more of the current than usual.
11:54You look at your fellow scientists, and they too have the same look on their faces.
11:58As you land at the shore and take out all your tools and equipment,
12:02things don't seem normal.
12:04But the work has to be done.
12:07You head to the base and settle in.
12:09Business as usual.
12:11In the barren land, you see some emperor penguins waddling around,
12:15hunting, playing, and doing penguin stuff.
12:18But as you look around, you notice that the penguins all suddenly head to the ocean.
12:23And many of the wild Antarctic birds also begin flying towards the horizon.
12:28Weird.
12:30Then the ground starts shaking,
12:32and behind you appears a tower of smoke reaching to the sky.
12:36The ashes from a volcano can be very harmful for anyone with lung conditions.
12:41But if you're nearby, you may need a gas mask.
12:44Or, better yet, evacuate!
12:46The gases and ashes are the most dangerous part of a volcanic eruption.
12:51Even though the lava spewing and explosion may seem scary,
12:55the smoke in the sky can spread far away,
12:57and even halt planes flying around.
13:00You look to your fellow scientists,
13:03and they signal to you that it's time to go.
13:05Make like the penguins, and swim off.
13:08But the waters are extremely rough,
13:10and the rumbling's getting louder and louder.
13:13Suddenly, you see more smoke wafting towards the sky,
13:16but from different locations.
13:18Back to the boat!
13:20It's sad to say,
13:21but leaving all that equipment was needed to survive.
13:24Carrying all that stuff would have slowed you down.
13:27But you're safe.
13:28For now.
13:29Looking behind you,
13:31you see a dark smoke screen covering every corner of the continent.
13:34Volcanoes have different types of eruptions.
13:37It's not just the
13:38shooting-out-lava-into-the-sky scenario.
13:41They can range from aggressive to calm.
13:44Some spew out lava,
13:45and some don't.
13:46This all depends on the environment.
13:48The number of gases contained.
13:50Or if there's any groundwater present.
13:53And even the chemistry of the magma.
13:55So, chances are,
13:57you'd be seeing all various types of explosions around you.
14:00You're out of Antarctica's mainland,
14:02but it's surrounded by lagoons and giant ice caps all around.
14:06You're doing your best to maneuver around them.
14:08But the ash is falling down all around.
14:11The sky is dark as the smoke blocks out the sun.
14:15Volcanic ash comes in all sizes,
14:17and can cause different damage.
14:19From as little as lung and eye irritation,
14:22to smothering vegetation and crops.
14:24And that's just the thing.
14:26More often than not,
14:27these volcanic ashes are extremely thick.
14:30They can even collapse the roofing of some buildings,
14:33if a lot of ash is accumulated.
14:35Not to mention blocking roads and compromising aquatic life.
14:39And that flash in the sky isn't your imagination.
14:43Ash clouds in the sky are so powerful,
14:45that they create electrical fields,
14:48that can create lightning storms.
14:50And these bad boys,
14:51can interfere with radio signals,
14:53and even start fires.
14:54Also,
14:55these clouds are extremely hot on their own.
14:58As if that lava flow isn't enough to start any fires.
15:01Oh well.
15:03But there are some volcanoes that are explosive.
15:06And along with the ashes flying around,
15:08there are flying rocks.
15:10This overheated rubble comes striking down like meteoroids from the sky,
15:14and can be pretty dangerous.
15:16You see the rocks hit the surrounding ice caps and water around you.
15:21As you reach a somewhat safe zone,
15:23you see the volcanoes all nicely lined up behind you,
15:26spewing all that thick red gooey fire.
15:29But the water tide isn't exactly peaceful.
15:32Volcanoes near oceans and seas can even cause tsunamis.
15:36Great.
15:37Submarine earthquakes shake the ocean bottom,
15:40and produce large, powerful waves.
15:42And don't even think about surfing on them.
15:45If there are volcanoes spitting out red-hot lava,
15:48then why hasn't all the ice in Antarctica melted?
15:51The answer lies beneath the Earth's surface.
15:54Tectonic plates barely move underneath there.
15:57However, it's pretty safe to say they're stable.
16:00So for such a large piece of land,
16:02the coldest continent on Earth,
16:04the few active volcanoes are insufficient to melt all the ice.
16:08The real reason why the ice is melting and water levels are rising
16:12is the warm ocean current around Antarctica.
16:16But this time, they're all erupting at the same time.
16:19With the volcanoes discovered,
16:21who knows how many are left underground, covered in ice.
16:24And that's the scary part.
16:26Some of these volcanoes are hidden so deep beneath the icy surface
16:30that they now heat up from the lava spewing out.
16:33The ice begins to destabilize everything around.
16:37The ice on the ridges begins cracking open, little by little.
16:40Like giant cans of soda bursting open,
16:43lava shoots from the snowy depths,
16:46causing enormous cracks in the ground.
16:48And then, magma finds its way to the party.
16:51This uninvited guest will begin to melt the surroundings,
16:54causing the ground to destabilize even more.
16:58Slowly but surely, the ice around Antarctica will melt.
17:02And if all the ice is melted,
17:04the Earth's sea level would rise by around 230 feet.
17:07That means coastal cities would be submerged underwater.
17:12The ocean currents would be flipped around,
17:14and hurricanes and typhoons would not want to take a break.
17:17Marine life would be in danger,
17:19and many small islands would completely disappear.
17:22And not to mention the smoke in the air that would travel around the world,
17:26halting many flights in the southern region.
17:28And if the winds were strong enough, the whole world.
17:32The economies would flop, and a worldwide panic would begin.
17:36Health emergencies all year round.
17:38Yeah, a real nice picture.
17:41So, you notice anything weird?
17:44Recently, there have been alarming changes in the water levels
17:47in different parts of Yellowstone Lake.
17:50At the same moment, the water level can be rising on one side of the lake
17:54and falling on the other.
17:56Ooh, it looks as if the lake basin gets lifted by some underground forces.
18:01Can it be a sign of a looming disaster?
18:04Geysers, mudpods, and hot springs
18:06turn Yellowstone National Park into some extraterrestrial world.
18:11And all these wonders are fueled by a mighty supervolcano.
18:16Supervolcanoes produce supereruptions.
18:18When it happens, they launch more than 240 cubic miles
18:22of ash, molten rock, and hot gases up into the air.
18:26To make it easier to imagine, four supereruptions could fill the Grand Canyon to the brim.
18:31The Yellowstone giant was thought to be responsible
18:34for at least three enormous eruptions and countless smaller ones.
18:38In that region, the volcanic deposits are scattered over tens of thousands of miles.
18:44Scientists believe they had been created by many weak eruptions.
18:47But after doing more research, experts found out these deposits had been left by two previously
18:54unknown supereruptions.
18:56Those probably took place about 9 and 8.7 million years ago.
19:00This discovery means that the area around the Yellowstone volcano used to face a supereruption
19:06every half a million years.
19:08But over the last three million years, the hotspot has seen only two supereruptions.
19:13It makes scientists believe these catastrophic events are slowing down.
19:18Or just maybe one is overdue.
19:21Anyway, if the Yellowstone supervolcano went off with as much power as it had 2.1 million
19:28years ago, it would spit out more than 588 cubic miles of boiling lava.
19:34That's more than 4,500 times the volume of Sydney Harbor.
19:38However, that's a lot of lava.
19:40Whether it's likely to happen or not is another question.
19:44There's no doubt that something is going on with the volcano.
19:48The water level changes in Yellowstone Lake mean the caldera is lifting under the surface.
19:53And the caldera is what's left over after a volcano erupts and then collapses.
19:59The Yellowstone caldera is not just going up, creating a dome-shaped uplift.
20:04It also moves up and down in a kind of breathing motion.
20:08It might be because the magma is seeping into the crust.
20:12Or because this magma is heating up the Yellowstone hydrothermal system,
20:16making it expand and raise the crust.
20:19Yellowstone has the status of an active volcano.
20:23Its volcanic explosivity index is 8 out of 10.
20:27Such a high number means that if this volcano erupted,
20:31it would be an apocalyptic event.
20:33Right before the disaster, the ground around the National Park would lift.
20:38Geothermal pools and geysers would heat up to boiling temperatures and get more acidic than usual.
20:44The magma would start to rise toward the surface.
20:47At some point, the rock roof of the magma chamber wouldn't be able to resist anymore,
20:52and the explosion would kick off.
20:55A massive column of lava and ash would shoot up to a height of over 16 miles.
21:01After that, the volcano would keep pumping ash for days on end.
21:05The mixture of lava, ash, and gas would be hotter than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
21:11It would travel through the area at a speed of 300 miles per hour, faster than a racing car.
21:16The air near the center of the eruption would heat up to 570 degrees Fahrenheit.
21:21One of the most dangerous consequences would be ash fallout.
21:26Volcanic ash can turn into glassy cement within seconds after being inhaled and getting in the lungs.
21:32People and animals would have problems with breathing.
21:35Okay, so that's an understatement, just so you know.
21:38Buildings would start to collapse under the weight of this dense substance.
21:42It would take just several days until a 10-foot layer of ash covered the territory
21:47of about 50 miles around the center of the eruption.
21:50After the ash got into the stratosphere, the temperatures all over the world would start to drop.
21:57If the eruption was rich in sulfur, an effective sunblocker, it would get so cold
22:02there would be no summer in the entire world for the next several years.
22:06The monsoon seasons would change. Agriculture would face serious problems.
22:11There would be issues with food supplies.
22:13Over the past 50 years, the Yellowstone caldura has risen almost two feet.
22:19It shouldn't alarm you, though. Experts are sure it's a natural behavior for Yellowstone.
22:24Periods of dome-shaped uplift are followed by the caldura lowering.
22:29Scientists think the supervolcano doesn't present any danger at the moment.
22:33For an eruption to happen, the magma inside has to be at least 50% malted. With Yellowstone,
22:40this number is just 5 to 15%. The probability of the eruption is 1 in 730,000. Safe to say,
22:48it's a long shot. Even better, a recent study made the researchers believe the hot spot might
22:55be in a state of decline right now, even despite all the breathing and dome-raising activity.
23:01Still, there have been tons of discussions about what people could do to prevent the disastrous
23:06supereruption from happening. And the most popular, and seemingly effective idea,
23:11was to cool the Yellowstone supervolcano down. Unfortunately, there's a catch.
23:17The volcano leaks out only 70% of the heat which comes from its magma-filled chambers.
23:23But the rest of the heat stays inside. As soon as it reaches a particular threshold,
23:28the volcano erupts. If it was possible to extract at least 35% of the Yellowstone volcano's heat,
23:36the eruption could be avoided. The cooler the magma is, the thicker and stickier it gets.
23:41It stops being so fluid and doesn't try to get out to the surface anymore.
23:46After considering these facts, NASA scientists came up with a plan. They suggested drilling a 6 miles deep
23:53well and pumping down cold, pressurized water. The temperature of the water that would get back
23:58to the surface would be approximately 662 degrees Fahrenheit. This way, the heat would be gradually
24:05extracted from the volcano. And if a geothermal plant was built on the site, it would generate
24:11plenty of electric power. It would be very simple to produce, and its price would be very alluring,
24:17about 10 cents per kilowatt hour. At first glance, it was an amazing idea. But sometime later,
24:24it started to receive a lot of criticism. Imagine drilling through the Earth's crust,
24:30getting deeper and deeper, and then wham-bam, you hit a hypothermal pocket.
24:35Uh-oh, get ready for a catastrophe. This can release gases that are likely to cause a series of super
24:42powerful explosions. In the worst-case scenario, it may even trigger a full-scale volcanic eruption.
24:48Now, you already know about its catastrophic outcomes, from fountains of lava and avalanches
24:54of molten rocks to climate changes all over the globe. Yeah, not good. Or let's say you're drilling
25:01a well to deliver cold water to the volcano, and then you suddenly hit its magma chamber. In this case,
25:08instead of cooling the giant down, you'll make the top of the magma chamber much more fragile than it
25:14used to be. And the whole construction will be at risk of collapsing at any moment. And don't forget
25:20that your drilling may also release toxic gases. They often accumulate at the top of the reservoir
25:26with magma. Can it get any worse? Well, yes it can! The whole process would stretch for more than 16
25:33,000
25:34years. This method is too risky to cool the volcano down as fast as people would probably want. And
25:41scientists aren't even 100% sure that when the cooling system construction is finished, the volcano
25:46will stay cold for at least another hundred years. And last but not least, the project of making the
25:53Yellowstone supervolcano a bit cooler would cost a mind-boggling 3.5 billion dollars. A huge price for
26:01something that might not work out altogether. Oh, by the way, Yellowstone isn't the only volcano that
26:07has a lava dome that's lifting at the moment. Lava domes are created when magma gets to the surface
26:12and then gathers around the vent. Scientists have found one of those inside and underwater volcano in
26:19Japan. This dome is more than 2,000 feet high and more than six miles wide. Even though the Japanese
26:26supervolcano seems to be sleeping, experts don't let their guard down. A volcanic system can go from
26:33being calm and docile to teetering on the edge of an eruption in the blink of an eye. Another massive
26:39dome is growing in the central Andes, on top of the planet's largest active magma store. The Altiplano
26:46Puna Plateau, well there's a tongue twister, and where the dome was found, is the second highest plateau in the
26:53world. And the dome itself is more than half a mile tall. You might wonder how come experts have known
26:59nothing about this enormous uplift until recently. The answer is simple. It was hidden within the
27:05plateau. It's an arid region littered with volcanoes, and it stretches for thousands of miles. Yep,
27:12another case of hiding in plain sight.
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