May 18: Under the Volcano

Mount St. Helens erupted on this day in 1980. The event, killing 57 people, may not have been apocalyptic in its own right. But a supervolcanic eruption is certain to occur someday in the Cascadian range, at the Yellowstone Caldera, or at some point along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The 1883 Krakatoa eruption, for instance, killed over 35,000 people. But a genuinely vast supervolcanic eruption could have global effects, sending enough ash into the air to reduce worldwide sun exposure for years and drive severe famine or waves of extinction.