Though powerful volcanoes have the potential to affect global temperatures and weather, the eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai on Saturday probably wasn’t big enough to affect the global climate, experts tell CNN.
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano has repeatedly erupted in the past.
For example, when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, 15 to 20 teragrams of SO2 were released to Earth’s atmosphere, which, according to NASA, led to a 0.6 degrees Celsius drop to global temperature during the next 15 months.
However, we are in the middle of this central sequence of the eruption, and many elements remain unclear, including the fact that the Mixed Island 2014/15 / 2014/15 is currently being covered by ash clouds.
Height of #HungaTonga eruption looks to have been around 30 km, from space-based lidar. CREDIT: Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) data on NASA site via Dr Ghassan Taha. https://t.co/VGRDHbgUFj https://t.co/mF58FMnOvD pic.twitter.com/I7cfd1h01Y
— Andrew Tupper (@andrewcraigtupp) January 16, 2022
Here are the latest #Sentinel5P #TROPOMI SO₂ data covering most of the #HungaTongaHungaHaapai #eruption cloud (just the western edge is missing). The total SO₂ mass is ~0.4 Tg. @CopernicusEU @DlrSo2 @BIRA_IASB @ESA_EO @esa pic.twitter.com/sWNOhIQkcw
— Prof. Simon Carn (@simoncarn) January 16, 2022
For those asking about climate impacts from #HungaTongaHungaHaapai and comparisons, the first estimates of SO2 mass in the stratosphere are ~0.4 Tg.
This is far below what's considered needed to cause any global cooling (~5-10 Tg). For comparison, Pinatubo in 1991 was ~15-20Tg. https://t.co/f66Eqgwsol
— Dr Samuel Mitchell (@smitchell_sci) January 16, 2022
~0.4 Tg SO₂ is too low for any significant surface cooling effect, but the stratospheric sulfate aerosols will have some atmospheric impacts, as shown here by @ThomasJAubry. https://t.co/E46qJ5BE4p
— Prof. Simon Carn (@simoncarn) January 17, 2022
High-resolution Himawari satellite imagery of the #HungaTongaHungaHaapai volcanic eruption in Tonga 🌋
Our climate stations recorded a brief spike in air pressure as the atmospheric shock wave pulsed across New Zealand. pic.twitter.com/BfLzdq6i57
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) January 15, 2022
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I can see some interest in this previous tweet so here's an updated version with most recent changes from January 2022.#Radar images taken by #Sentinel1 between Dec. 10 and Jan. 15.
Satellite data processed in @sentinel_hub#Tonga #volcano #HungaTongaHungaHaapai #SAR pic.twitter.com/51aNYSl0g7— kosmi 🛰️🌍 (@kosmi64833127) January 16, 2022
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