Eli5: I understand that 74,000 years ago a supereruption occurred in the Toba volcano that reduced the human population and many other animal species to near extinction. What exactly happened after the eruption that was so deadly for living things?

Question

A super eruption on the Toba volcano produced a bottleneck in the human and in many animal species. How could it be that the eruption of a volcano almost wiped out many animal species?

In: 249

Answer 1

Volcano produces smoke. Smoke blocks out the sun. No sun means plants start to die. No plants to eat means that herbivores start starving and dying. Less herbivores mean that carnivores start starving and dying.