Super-volcanoes are a scary reality, capable of spewing billions of tons of ash and boiling hot magma upon eruption, it’s a good thing they only pop every 10 to 12 thousand years. Except when it’s been 12 900 years since its last eruption which is currently the case.

Lying dormant beneath Laacher See lake, near Bonn in Germany, the super-volcano is only 390 miles beneath the surface is capable of immense devastation. That’s if it erupts.

Tranquil Laacher See lake hides the beast below

Believed to be similar in size to the Philippine’s Mount Pinatubo, which blew in 1991 and marked the biggest eruption of the 20^th century, if the super-volcano were to blow it could cause immeasurable damage and destruction. When the former erupted global temperatures dropped by 0,5C due to ash blocking the sun, and you don’t have to think too far back to remember the effects of the 2010 Icelandic eruption, which pales in comparison where size is regarded.

Mount Pinatubo

It’s impossible to predict the effect it would have on neighbouring countries, but it’s likely that large parts of European countries and even England could be coated in volcanic ash.

Last year there were several small earthquakes in the area, which unamed experts say indicates that the beast may be awakening from its slumber, and volcanologists cite carbon dioxide bubbling to the surface of the water as further signs that the volcano is still active.

That said, no “experts” are cited by name, and CO2 leakage may in fact be a perfectly benign phenomenon.

[Source: Daily Mail]