Study reveals Tonga explosion was more violent than it appeared and could warm Earth

The Pacific Ocean volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted in January of this year. The island’s residents are still reeling from its impacts, but its long-term consequences may have a global influence.

According to a recent research, the eruption increased the water content of the stratosphere, the second layer of the atmosphere, by almost 5%.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano ejected countless tonnes of water vapour into the atmosphere. The aqueous blast it produced was enormous and unexpected, and experts are still attempting to comprehend its effects.

The study published in the journal Science states that the eruption of the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in January of 2022 was so violent that its plume penetrated into the stratosphere and injected atleast 50 teragrams of water vapor in the second atmospheric layer.

‘Even though they are uncommon, large volcanic eruptions can have an impact on the stratosphere’s chemistry and dynamics for years after they occur. Due to this occurrence, the amount of water vapour in the growing stratospheric plume grew by several orders of magnitude, and it’s possible that the amount of water vapour in the entire stratosphere increased by more than 5%’ read the report.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, lead author Holger Voemel of the National Center for Atmospheric Research told the Associated Press. The Tongan explosion was substantially drier; large explosions typically chill the globe.