The supervolcano of the Phlegraean Fields in southern Italy could erupt at any time. Scientists believe it may have caused the extinction of Neanderthals during an Ice Age eruption.
A huge crater, up to 20 kilometers wide, was created. Pyroclastic flows of 700 degree hot gas and ash destroyed all life within a radius of 70 kilometers. The ash from the gigantic volcanic eruption reached Cyrenaica in Libya and the north of Egypt, traveled to Syria, Turkey, Georgia, the south of Russia and Kazakhstan. The cooling in this so-called “volcanic winter” was strongest in Eastern Europe and Asia, but also in Western Europe. Temperatures fell by two to four degrees over one or two years. The Neanderthal population had already declined sharply 39,500 years ago. The cold was also a major stress factor without shelter or food supply. They lived in caves or primitive tents or primitive caves or tents. The scientists do have one caveat: “We come to the conclusion that the environmental impact of the Campanian ignimbrite eruption alone was not sufficient to explain the final demise of the NeanderthALS in Europe.”