Did you know that volcanic eruptions can send clouds of water vapor into the stratosphere? According to information provided by NASA Earth, the Hunga Tonga-Ha’apai volcano erupted on January 15 and has spewed a plume of water vapor into the stratosphere. NASA further advised that this water vapor could have a small, temporary warming effect on Earth’s global average temperature. “When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Jan. 15, it spewed a plume of water vapor into the stratosphere. This extra water vapor, as detected by @NASA’s Aura satellite, could have a small, temporary warming effect on the H global average Earth temperature,” NASA Earth tweeted. The massive amount of water vapor released into the atmosphere, as detected by NASA’s Microwave Limb Sounder, could end up temporarily warming the Earth’s surface. Explaining the incident, NASA said in a report: “When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on January 15, it sent a tsunami around the world and triggered a sonic boom that circled the globe twice. The underwater explosion in the South Pacific Ocean also spewed a huge plume of water vapor into Earth’s stratosphere – enough to fill more than 58,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The massive amount of water vapor could be enough to temporarily affect Earth’s global average temperature.” In the study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, Luis Millan, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and his colleagues estimate that the Tonga eruption sent about 146 teragrams (1 teragram equals one trillion grams) of water vapor in the Earth’s stratosphere. – equal to 10% of the water already present in this atmospheric layer. That’s nearly four times the amount of water vapor scientists estimate from the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines entered the stratosphere. Millan analyzed data from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite, 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. Also Read: The Bluest Asteroid In The Solar System Confused Scientists For Years, But Now, Its SECRET Has Been Revealed Volcanic eruptions are known to rarely inject much water into the stratosphere. In the 18 years that NASA has been taking measurements, only two other eruptions — the 2008 Kasatochi eruption in Alaska and the 2015 Calbuco eruption in Chile — have sent appreciable amounts of water vapor to such high altitudes. But these were mere drops compared to the Tonga event, and the water vapor from both previous eruptions quickly dissipated. The excess water vapor vented by the Tonga volcano, on the other hand, could remain in the stratosphere for several years, NASA reported. This extra water vapor could affect atmospheric chemistry, enhancing certain chemical reactions that could temporarily exacerbate the depletion of the ozone layer. It could also affect surface temperatures. Huge volcanic eruptions like Krakatoa and Mount Pinatubo commonly cool the Earth’s surface by spewing gases, dust and ash that reflect sunlight back into space. In contrast, the Tonga volcano did not eject large amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere, and the huge amounts of water vapor from the eruption may have a small, temporary warming effect, as the water vapor traps heat. The effect would disappear when the extra water vapor leaves the stratosphere and would not be enough to appreciably worsen the effects of climate change.
