Global Scans · Supervolcano · Weekly Summary

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A global catastrophic risk is a hypothetical future event that has the potential to damage human well-being on a global scale. Some events could cripple or destroy modern civilization. Any event that could cause human extinction is known as an existential risk.

• [New] Scientists and authorities are warning that four U.S. volcanoes: Kilauea in Hawaii, Great Sitkin in Alaska, Mount Spurr in Alaska, and the Yellowstone Caldera. Science Sensei
• The McDermitt Caldera has the potential for the largest lithium reserve on the planet. ECO News
• The discovery of a colossal lithium deposit in the McDermitt Caldera on the Oregon-Nevada border could redefine global energy politics. The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel
• Asteroids larger than 1,000m in diameter, the largest supervolcanoes, runaway climate change, and global nuclear war hold the potential to affect all countries and all people. Rand Corporation
• Degassing of high concentrations of volcanic SO2 continues to pose the threat of potential long-term health impacts to communities around [the] Taal Caldera that are frequently exposed to volcanic gas. Rappler
• Throughout 2024 and 2025 further soil sampling campaigns will be completed targeting extensions of Tuvatu, as well as gold only and copper-gold targets throughout the Navilawa caldera. Junior Mining Network
• Campi Flegrei near Naples in southern Italy is the UK's nearest supervolcano, eagerly monitored by scientists as it shows signs it could be gearing up to blow. Metro.co.uk
• A supervolcano is one that has ejected more than 240 cubic miles of material and reached a level 8 - the highest threat - on the Volcano Explosivity Index or VEI, according to the US Geological Survey. CNN
• Supervolcanoes are among the most perplexing and least understood natural threats in the world. CNN
• By acquiring Atlantic Therapeutics, Caldera Medical says it will add the FDA-cleared incontinence treatment as a first-line therapy for women with stress urinary incontinence, helping more people strengthen their pelvic health and restore their bladder control. FemTech World
• The future of the modern world depends on the future of places like the McDermitt Caldera, which has the potential to be the largest known source of lithium on the planet. Popular Science
• A supervolcano in Europe could be inching closer to eruption and it's not too far from home. Metro.co.uk
• A sudden crazed lithium boom poses a grave threat to critical Sage-grouse habitats in the remote Nevada-Oregon borderlands of the McDermitt caldera. CounterPunch.org
• The Scientific Assembly will be held within the Rotorua caldera amongst some of New Zealand's iconic volcanic landforms and deposits, and in the heart of one of New Zealand's cultural and touristic centers. IAVCEI 2023 Scientific Assembly
• The National Park Service could face legal action over rogue cattle trespassing in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Santa Fe New Mexican
• Untested outcropping mineralization is evident in the historic geophysical and geochemical datasets and the caldera volcano-sedimentary infill sequence is expected to be a prime target for large-scale, high-grade concealed mineralization as observed elsewhere in the world. Consolidated Uranium Inc.
• Olivine-rich rock spotted in Gusev Crater (by the now-concluded Spirit rover mission) and Jezero Crater (home of the Perseverance rover) might have arisen in huge volcanic calderas. Forbes
• If humans have established cultures on two planets, the separation between the planets will generally keep a major catastrophe including an extinction event on Earth-say, a highly lethal pandemic or the eruption of several supervolcanoes - from affecting the other planet. Resilience
• Lithium Americas plans an open-pit mine at Thacker Pass, which is located within an extinct supervolcano about 200 miles north of Reno, Nevada, and is one of the largest lithium reserves in the U.S. CNBC
• Bioweapons, including engineered pandemics, pose about 10 times more existential risk than the combined risk from nuclear war, runaway climate change, asteroids, supervolcanoes, and naturally arising pandemics. Centre for Effective Altruism

Last updated: 31 March 2025