The colossal consequences of supervolcanoes - Alex Gendler

As colosais consecuencias dos supervolcáns - Alex Gendler

Translator: Xusto Rodriguez Reviewer: Alicia Ferreiro

The year was 1816.

Era o ano 1816.

Europe and North America had just been through

Europa e Norteamérica acababan de pasar

a devastating series of wars,

por unha serie de guerras devastadoras,

and a slow recovery seemed to be underway,

e unha recuperación lenta parecía poñerse en marcha,

but nature had other plans.

pero a natureza tiña outros plans.

After two years of poor harvests,

Despois de dous anos de malas colleitas,

the spring brought heavy rains and cold,

a primavera veu con arroiadas e moito frío,

flooding the rivers and causing crop failures

facendo rebordar os ríos e acabando coas colleitas

from the British Isles to Switzerland.

desde as Illas Británicas ata Suíza.

While odd-colored snow fell in Italy and Hungary,

Mentres, unha neve de cor rara folerpaba sobre Italia e Hungría,

famine, food riots and disease epidemics ensued.

provocando grandes fames, pelexas pola comida e epidemias.

Meanwhile, New England was blanketed

Mentres tanto, Nova Inglaterra víase cuberta

by a strange fog

por unha néboa estraña

that would not disperse

que non levantaba,

as the ground remained frozen

polo que o chan estivo conxelado

well into June.

ata xuño.

In what came to be known as "the Year Without a Summer,"

No que se chegou a coñecer como o "ano sen verán",

some thought the apocalypse had begun.

houbo quen pensou que empezara a Apocalipse.

A mood captured in Lord Byron's poem "Darkness":

Este sentimento foi representado no poema de Lord Byron "Escuridade":

"I had a dream which was not all a dream.

"Tiven un soño que non era de todo un soño.

The bright sun was extinguish'd,

O brillante Sol apagárase,

and the stars did wander darkling in the eternal space,

e as estrelas vagaban escuras no espazo eterno,

rayless, and pathless,

sen raios, e sen camiño,

and the icy Earth swung blind and blackening

e a Terra xeada axitábase cega e escurecéndose

in the moonless air;

no aire sen lúa;

morn came and went -- and came, and brought no day."

o amencer ía e viña... e volvía, e non traía día ningún".

They had no way of knowing

Non tiñan modo de saber

that the real source of their misfortunes

que a fonte real da súa desgraza

had occurred a year ago thousands of miles away.

ocorrera había un ano a miles de quilómetros.

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora

A erupción en 1815 do monte Tambora

on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa

na illa indonesia de Sumbawa

was what is known as a supervolcano,

foi o que se coñece como un supervolcán,

characterized by a volume of erupted material,

que se caracteriza por un volume de material proxectado,

many times greater than that of ordinary volcanoes.

varias veces maior ca o de calquera volcán corrente.

And while the popular image of volcanic destruction

E, aínda que a imaxe popular da destrución volcánica

is molten rock engulfing the surrounding land,

é a da rocha fundida cubrindo o terreo circundante,

far greater devastation is caused

é moito maior a devastación causada

by what remains in the air.

polo que queda no aire.

Volcanic ash, dispersed by wind,

As cinzas volcánicas, esparexidas polo vento,

can blanket the sky for days,

poden cubrir o ceo durante días,

while toxic gases, such as sulfur dioxide,

mentres que gases tóxicos, como o dióxido de xofre

react in the stratosphere,

reaccionan na estratosfera,

blocking out solar radiation

bloqueando a radiación solar

and drastically cooling the atmosphere below.

e arrefriando drasticamente as zonas inferiores da atmosfera.

The resulting volcanic winter,

O inverno volcánico que resulta de aquí,

along with other effects such as acid rain,

xunto con outros efectos como a choiva ácida,

can effect multiple continents,

pode afectar varios continentes,

disrupting natural cycles

alterando os ciclos naturais

and annihilating the plant life on which other organisms,

e aniquilando a vida vexetal da que outros organismos,

including humans, depend.

incluídos os seres humanos, dependen.

Releasing nearly 160 cubic kilometers

Liberando case 160 quilómetros cúbicos

of rock, ash and gas,

de rochas, cinzas e gases,

the Mount Tambora eruption

a erupción do monte Tambora

was the largest in recorded history,

foi a maior das rexistradas na historia,

causing as many as 90,000 deaths.

causando 90 000 mortes.

But previous eruptions have been even more deadly.

Pero erupciones anteriores foron aínda máis mortíferas.

The 1600 eruption of Peru's Huaynaputina

A do Huaynaputina, en Perú no 1600,

is likely to have triggered the Russian famine,

foi a causa probable da "gran fame rusa",

that killed nearly two million,

que matou a case dous millóns de persoas,

while more ancient eruptions have been blamed for major world events,

mentres que erupcións máis antigas foron culpables de sucesos mundiais,

such as the fall of the Chinese Xia Dynasty,

como a caída da dinastía Xia na China,

the disappearance of the Minoan civilization,

a desaparición da civilización minoica,

and even a genetic bottleneck in human evolution

e mesmo dun colo de botella xenético na evolución humana

that may have resulted from all but a few thousand human beings

que puido ser o resultado da desaparición dalgúns miles de humanos

being wiped out 70,000 years ago.

hai 70 000 anos.

One of the most dangerous types of supervolcano

Un dos tipos máis perigosos de supervolcán

is an explosive caldera,

é unha caldeira explosiva,

formed when a volcanic mountain collapses

que se forma cando unha montaña volcánica se esboroa

after an eruption so large

despois dunha erupción tan grande

that the now-empty magma chamber

que a cámara magmática, agora baleira,

can no longer support its weight.

non é quen de soportar o seu propio peso.

But though the above-ground volcano is gone,

Pero, aínda que o volcán desapareceu da superficie do chan,

the underground volcanic activity continues.

a actividade volcánica subterránea segue.

With no method of release,

Sen forma ningunha de escapar,

magma and volcanic gases continue

o magma e os gases volcánicos

to accumulate and expand underground,

continúan acumulándose e expandíndose no subsolo,

building up pressure until a massive and violent explosion

aumentando a presión ata que unha explosión masiva e violenta

becomes inevitable.

se torna inevitable.

And one of the largest active volcanic calderas

E unha das caldeiras volcánicas activas máis grandes

lies right under Yellowstone National Park.

atópase debaixo do Parque Nacional Yellowstone.

The last time it erupted, 650,000 years ago,

A última vez que entrou en erupción, hai 650 000 anos,

it covered much of North America

cubriu gran parte de Norteamérica

in nearly two meters of ash and rock.

con case dous metros de cinzas e rochas.

Scientists are currently monitoring

Na actualidade, o científicos vixían

the world's active volcanoes,

os volcáns activos de todo o mundo;

and procedures for predicting eruptions,

e os procedementos para predicir erupcións,

conducting evacuations and diverting lava flows

facer evacuacións e desviar as correntes de lava

have improved over the years.

melloraron co paso dos anos.

But the massive scale and global reach

Pero a escala masiva e o alcance global

of a supervolcano

dun supervolcán significan

means that for many people there would be nowhere to run.

que para moita xente non habería para onde fuxir.

Fortunately, the current data shows no evidence

Por sorte, os datos actuais non amosan evidencias

of such an eruption occurring in the next few thousand years.

de que unha erupción tal vaia ocorrer nos vindeiros miles de anos.

But the idea of a sudden and unavoidable

Pero a idea dunha apocalipse destrutora de civilizacións,

civilization-destroying apocalypse

súbita e inevitable,

caused by events half a globe away

causada por sucesos da outra punta do mundo

will remain a powerful and terrifying vision.

seguirá sendo unha visión poderosa e terrorífica.

Less fictional than we would like to believe.

E menos ficticia do que nos gustaría crer.

"The winds were withered in the stagnant air,

"Os ventos estaban murchos no aire estancado,

and the clouds perish'd;

e as nubes finaran;

darkness had no need of aid from them --

a escuridade non precisaba da súa axuda --

she was the universe." - Lord Byron

ela era o universo". - Lord Byron