Ancient Humans Weathered the Toba Supervolcano Just Fine
Volcanic eruptions can be bad for more than the unlucky people living in their shadows—in 1816, ash from the eruption of Mount Tambora in the Philippines blotted out the sun and led to a “year without a summer” as far away as Vermont. The massive eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883 lowered summertime temperatures across the world and disrupted weather patterns for years. But those eruptions—and pretty much any others—pale in comparison to Toba, a volcano that erupted on Sumatra in Indonesia 74,000 years ago. It was believed the disruptions caused by the super-eruption likely pruned a few branches off the early human family tree.
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