Tonga’s eruption injected so much water into Earth’s atmosphere it could weaken the ozone layer

(opens in a brand new tab)

When an underwater volcano in Tonga erupted in January, it spewed greater than ash and volcanic gases; it additionally spewed 58,000 Olympic swimming pools of water vapor into Earth’s environment, in accordance with a brand new research.

This water vapor might find yourself being probably the most damaging a part of the volcano‘s eruption because it might probably exacerbate world warming and exhaust the ozone layer, in accordance with the research.

When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on January 15, it grew to become probably the most highly effective explosion on Earth in additional than 30 years, with a equal drive of 100 Hiroshima bombs. The explosion despatched shock waves across the planet, inflicting a ring like a bell and producing tsunamis that battered neighboring ribs. A plume of ash and mud reached larger within the environment than every other recorded eruption and triggered greater than 590,000 lightning strikes in three days.

Within the new research, researchers used information collected by NASA’s Aura satellite tv for pc to estimate how a lot water has been pushed into the stratosphere, the second layer of Earth, which extends from 4 to 12 miles (6 to twenty kilometers) as much as 31 miles (50 km) above the floor of the planet. The outcomes revealed that 160,900 tonnes (146,000 metric tons) of further water vapor had entered the stratosphere because the volcano erupted, reaching a most altitude of 33 miles (53 km), which is within the mesosphere. , the layer of the environment that extends from the highest of the stratosphere to an altitude of 53 miles (85 km).

This makes it the most important and highest injection of water into the stratosphere since satellites started taking measurements.

Associated: Underwater ‘sharkcano’ eruption captured in dramatic satellite tv for pc photographs

“We estimate that the surplus water vapor is about 10% of the quantity of water vapor usually residing within the stratosphere,” which is the most important improve ever noticed by scientists, the researchers wrote within the new article, revealed on-line July 1 within the journal Geophysical Analysis Letters. Water vapor can keep within the stratosphere for about half a decade, the researchers wrote.

It’s not completely shocking that the Tonga eruption injected a considerable amount of water vapor into the environment, provided that the explosion was triggered about 150 meters under the floor of the ocean, the researchers stated. When the volcano erupted, seawater that got here into contact with the erupting magma was quickly superheated, leading to giant quantities of “explosive steam”, they wrote. This is without doubt one of the most important explanation why the explosion was so highly effective. Nevertheless, that is the primary time the quantity of water has been precisely measured, and it turned out to be a lot larger than scientists had anticipated.

(opens in a brand new tab)

Usually, giant volcanic eruptions launch giant quantities of ash and gases, reminiscent of sulfur dioxide, which may create reflective compounds within the environment. These volcanic byproducts can block daylight from reaching the planet’s floor, which may cool the environment. Nevertheless, the Tonga eruption produced surprisingly low ranges of sulfur dioxide in comparison with equally sized explosions, and a lot of the ash it ejected rapidly fell to the bottom.

Because of this, specialists first estimated that the underwater explosion would have minimal results on the Earth’s local weather. However these estimates have been based mostly on the quantity of ash and fuel emitted from the volcano and did not account for all the surplus water vapor, which could possibly be simply as problematic.

This extra water, the researchers warn, might have a radiant impact that might heat the environment as a lot as greenhouse fuel do. As a result of the water is more likely to stick round longer than different volcanic gases, reminiscent of sulfur dioxide – which usually falls from the environment inside two to 3 years – the warming impact of the water is more likely to last more. longer than the cooling results created by the gases.

This implies the Tonga explosion is more likely to be the primary recorded eruption to trigger a warming impact, fairly than a cooling impact, on the planet, the researchers wrote.

The researchers additionally identified that such a rise in water vapor might lower the quantity of ozone within the stratosphere, probably weakening the ozone layer that protects life on Earth from the solar’s dangerous ultraviolet rays. Solar. Stratospheric water, or H2O, can break down into OH ions over time. These ions might react with ozone, which is made up of three oxygen atoms, to create water and oxygen. Nevertheless, it’s unclear how it will have an effect on the ozone layer as a complete, the researchers wrote.

(opens in a brand new tab)

Nevertheless, the researchers additionally imagine that growing water vapor might lower the quantity of methane within the environment, which is without doubt one of the most important greenhouse gases accountable for local weather change. The identical OH ions that react with ozone may also react with methane to supply water and a methyl radical (methane with one much less hydrogen atom), which traps a lot much less warmth within the environment than the methane. Hopefully, this potential discount in methane might offset a number of the warming attributable to water vapor, the researchers wrote.

Nevertheless, the research authors imagine it’s nonetheless too early to foretell the precise climatic results of the Tonga eruption. “Continued monitoring of volcanic gases from this and future eruption is important to raised quantify their totally different roles in local weather,” the researchers wrote.

Initially posted on Reside Science.