Subdecadal phytolith and charcoal records from Lake Malawi, East Africa imply minimal effects on human evolution from the ∼74 ka Toba supereruption.

Abstract in brief

• The study examined lake sediment records from Lake Malawi, specifically focusing on phytoliths and charcoal, to assess environmental changes around the time of the 74,000-year-old Toba supereruption, and found no evidence of a prolonged volcanic winter or significant climate disruption in the region.
• While there was a temporary increase in charcoal and xerophytic grasses immediately after the eruption, this indicated reduced rainfall and vegetation die-off, but not the extended cooling hypothesized by the "volcanic winter" theory.
• The research, supported by petrological, climate modeling, and genetic data, suggests the Toba eruption did not cause a severe climate event or a significant human population bottleneck, challenging the idea that the eruption drastically impacted human evolution.