European scientists predict 10 percent chance of doomsday eruption within 70 years

Scientists warn Earth has entered a 'volcano season.'

According to scientists, there's a 10 percent chance that within the next 80 years, the Yellowstone supervolcano could erupt, killing millions worldwide. It's not very good news, but it's information pieced together by scientists who have been looking for patterns in volcanic activity on Earth. At least now, we have some serious early warning.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - European scientists have a dire warning for the United States, and the world. The planet is in "volcano season." Noting the recently observed, substantial uptick in volcanic activity, and comparing this with historic data, they have found Earth has periods of increased volcanic activity. We have just begun one such period.

Each volcano season is marked by an increase in volcanic eruptions. They don't have any explanation for this variation.

Experts from the European Science Foundation evaluated the impacts of various disasters, their probabilities and our preparedness levels. Disasters like tsunamis are earthquakes are so common that we are generally well prepared for them. But volcanoes go hundreds of years between eruptions, erasing collective memories about their violence. Volcanoes are greatly underestimated for their potential to destroy lives and impact the biosphere.

It has been two centuries since the eruption of Tambora in Sumatra. Tambora is often overshadowed by its cousin Krakatoa, which literally blew itself to smithereens in 1883, but Tambora in 1815 was a much larger eruption. Tambora killed at least 100,000 people directly, but millions may have died from its indirect effects. Tamboa spewed so much ash into the air that it cooled the Earth. The year 1816 was known as the year without summer because the planet did not warm up. In New England, farmers recorded the temperature fell below freezing every month, including in June, July and August. Crops were destroyed and millions died in the resulting global famine.

Scientists have identified three major volcanoes of particular concern. They are Mt. Vesuvius in Italy, Popocatépetl near Mexico City, and the Yellowstone supervolcano. Of the three, Yellowstone gives the most worry. Scientists think there is a 10 percent chance it could blow within the next 70 years.

Any one of these three volcanoes could impact the Earth's climate for a year or more, but only Yellowstone can cause millions of deaths, possibly billions.

Yellowstone is a supervolcano, with a caldera 35 miles wide. If it were to erupt, the entire state of Wyoming could be destroyed. Much of several neighboring states would be quickly buried in ash. Crops, livestock, people, and waterways would be entirely destroyed. Ash would fall for thousands of miles, and possibly around the world. Aerosols would disperse in the atmosphere, cooling the planet for years, possibly decades. A mini-ice age would result as snow falls and never melts.

The region is rife with low-grade volcanic activity, which produces geysers, some of the park's most famous features. It also produces massive dead spots where even trees cannot grow. Recent mass migrations of animals have concerned outsiders who see the migrations as the animals fleeing danger, although park officials say such behavior is habitual.

There is no way to prevent or to hardly cope with a disaster of such magnitude. Worst of all, it will happen, it's just a matter of time. While a massive asteroid impact could be diverted with future technology, there is simply no way to stop a supervolcano.

The United States would likely collapse, as well as several other nations around the world. The political chaos might even be more deadly than the natural crisis.

Volcanic eruptions around the world are presently at their highest in over 300 years. This means an eruption with global impacts, like Tambora, is not only possible, it is likely.

Unfortunately, there's little you can do to prepare.