{"id":274156,"date":"2023-08-17T18:17:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=274156"},"modified":"2023-08-17T18:17:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:17:32","slug":"hunga-tonga-its-role-in-rising-global-temperatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=274156","title":{"rendered":"Hunga Tonga & Its Role In Rising Global\u00a0Temperatures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t Ian Cunningham<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amidst all of the hysteria about the rise in global temperatures this year and claims of hottest months, there has been remarkably little discussion of the role played by the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano last year:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The huge amount of water vapor hurled into the atmosphere, as detected by NASA\u2019s Microwave Limb Sounder, could end up temporarily warming Earth\u2019s surface.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha\u2019apai volcano\u00a0<\/em>erupted<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on Jan. 15, it sent a tsunami racing around the world and set off a sonic boom that circled the globe twice. The underwater eruption in the South Pacific Ocean also blasted an enormous plume of water vapor into Earth\u2019s stratosphere \u2013 enough to fill more than 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. The sheer amount of water vapor could be enough to temporarily affect Earth\u2019s global average temperature.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d said Luis Mill\u00e1n, an atmospheric scientist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. He led a new study examining the amount of water vapor that the Tonga volcano injected into the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere between about 8 and 33 miles (12 and 53 kilometers) above Earth\u2019s surface.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\u00a0<\/em>study<\/em><\/a>, published in Geophysical Research Letters, Mill\u00e1n and his colleagues estimate that the Tonga eruption sent around 146 teragrams (1 teragram equals a trillion grams) of water vapor into Earth\u2019s stratosphere \u2013 equal to 10% of the water already present in that atmospheric layer. That\u2019s nearly four times the amount of water vapor that scientists estimate the 1991\u00a0<\/em>Mount Pinatubo eruption<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in the Philippines lofted into the stratosphere.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mill\u00e1n analyzed data from the\u00a0<\/em>Microwave Limb Sounder<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(MLS) instrument on NASA\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Aura<\/em><\/a>\u00a0satellite, which measures atmospheric gases, including water vapor and ozone. After the Tonga volcano erupted, the MLS team started seeing water vapor readings that were off the charts. \u201cWe had to carefully inspect all the measurements in the plume to make sure they were trustworthy,\u201d said Mill\u00e1n.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volcanic eruptions rarely inject much water into the stratosphere. In the 18 years that NASA has been taking measurements, only two other eruptions \u2013 the 2008\u00a0<\/em>Kasatochi event<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in Alaska and the 2015\u00a0<\/em>Calbuco eruption<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in Chile \u2013 sent appreciable amounts of water vapor to such high altitudes. But those were mere blips compared to the Tonga event, and the water vapor from both previous eruptions dissipated quickly. The excess water vapor injected by the Tonga volcano, on the other hand, could remain in the stratosphere for several years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This extra water vapor could influence atmospheric chemistry, boosting certain chemical reactions that could temporarily worsen depletion of the ozone layer. It could also influence surface temperatures. Massive volcanic eruptions like Krakatoa and Mount Pinatubo typically cool Earth\u2019s surface by ejecting gases, dust, and ash that reflect sunlight back into space. In contrast, the Tonga volcano didn\u2019t inject large amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere, and the huge amounts of water vapor from the eruption may have a small, temporary warming effect, since water vapor traps heat. The effect would dissipate when the extra water vapor cycles out of the stratosphere and would not be enough to noticeably exacerbate climate change effects.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheer amount of water injected into the stratosphere was likely only possible because the underwater volcano\u2019s caldera \u2013 a basin-shaped depression usually formed after magma erupts or drains from a shallow chamber beneath the volcano \u2013 was at just the right depth in the ocean: about 490 feet (150 meters) down. Any shallower, and there wouldn\u2019t have been enough seawater superheated by the erupting magma to account for the stratospheric water vapor values Mill\u00e1n and his colleagues saw. Any deeper, and the immense pressures in the ocean\u2019s depths could have muted the eruption.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/tonga-eruption-blasted-unprecedented-amount-of-water-into-stratosphere<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n