Module 3 / Lesson 6.2
Supervolcanoes & Other Natural Risks
In this section, we examine rare but potentially devastating eruptions. Unlike asteroids, supervolcanoes cannot be predicted with high precision or prevented; only the severity of their impacts can be mitigated. You'll analyze our inability to change the probability of some natural events and reflect on what risk management looks like when prevention isn't possible.
Lesson Goals
- Understand what supervolcanoes are and how they threaten global systems
- Explore the difficulty of forecasting supervolcanoes and other rare natural disaster
- Learn about efforts to prevent or mitigate the harm of supervolcanoes
Lesson guide
- Learning:
- Read The Precipice on Supervolvanoes (pp. 74–80, excluding floods of lava on p. 76)
- Watch Video on Managing Supervolcanoes.
- Thinking Tasks: While reading, consider:
- What qualifies as a supervolcano?
- What was life like after the Toba eruption caused a "volcanic winter"?
- Why is the risk of a supervolcano in an average century the same as in the next century
- Why are supervolcanoes considered global catastrophic risks, even if not existential?
- What might we do to manage the frequency or severity of a supervolcano?
- What does Ord suggest we do to mitigate the damage from a potential supervolcano?
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