Tonga volcano has released water into the stratosphere for 58,000 ponds

The eruption of the Hengja Tonga-Hung Hapai volcano on the Pacific island of Tonga on January 15 continues to astound scientists. Atmospheric researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Examination in a studyWhich water effect It has been called a volcanic eruption of great heights. As it turns out, the amount of water can contain even Impact on the global climate to have.

Ten percent more in the stratosphere

146 Tg of water vapor was released in the eruption at a height of up to 53 km shipped. This corresponds to the amount of water 58000 swimming pool olympic proportions, NASA reports. “We’ve never seen anything like this before,” says study leader Luis Milan. The amount of water corresponds to 10 percent of the amount of water vapor normally present in the stratosphere.

Ash cools and water heats up

Due to the large amount of extra water vapor in the stratosphere, Global average temperature increase, but it is limited in time. Water promotes reactions that contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. When volcanoes throw large amounts of ash into the air, more of the sun’s radiation is reflected back into space, creating a cooling effect. Water, on the other hand, causes heat.

Just the right depth

It is extremely rare for volcanic eruptions to release water into the stratosphere at all. There were two eruptions in 2008 and 2015 where this happened, but the amounts were minuscule compared to the Hong Tonga-Hung Hapai eruption. The fact that a lot of water has been thrown into the air has something to do with Depth together in it crater at the time of the eruption. 150 meters It was apparently deep enough to drain a lot of water and shallow enough to get a little moisture from the seawater.