The volcanic eruption that shook the Pacific island nation of Tonga in January was so powerful that it spewed ash into the mesosphere, the third and coldest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The volcanic plume rising 58 kilometers above Earth was probably the highest thing ever measured in the atmosphere by satellites, NASA said.
With two weather satellites in the right place at the right time, NASA was able to measure the size of the cloud.
Incredible new analysis: parallax observations by GOES & Himawari show that the Hunga Tonga eruption sent its plume of ash and gas to the mesosphere.
This is likely a new record in the satellite era.https://t.co/wvqfYIHfIS #remotesensing #earthobservation #scicomm #gis #maps pic.twitter.com/cgD58EUvvx
— Joshua Stevens ( @jscarto) February 16, 2022
In just 30 minutes after the eruption, ash, steam and gas from the underwater volcano rose from the surface of the ocean to the mesosphere. A second eruption rose to nearly the same height, reaching 50 kilometers across, near the boundary between the next layer, the mesosphere and the stratosphere.
An explosive combination of extreme heat from the volcano and moisture from the ocean helped the volcanic cloud rise to such an astonishing height.
NASA atmospheric scientist Kristopher Bedka said in a statement, “It was like hyperfuel for a mega thunderstorm,” and continued: “It was 2.5 times higher than any storm we’ve ever observed, and the explosion produced an incredible amount of lightning. ”
When volcanoes release emissions into the atmosphere, they can cause temporary cooling, both locally and globally. This is largely due to the sunlight-reflecting sulfur dioxide particles found in volcanic ash. But since there’s a lot of water vapor in this cloud and not a lot of sulfur dioxide, it probably won’t have this effect, according to NASA.
Smoke from this historic explosion rose and spread for more than 13 hours on January 15th. However, some of their remaining aerosols will be permanent and may remain in the stratosphere (just below the mesosphere) for a year.
This explosion also triggered a devastating tsunami that hit Tonga. The archipelago remained cut off from most parts of the world for days after the disaster severed the only submarine cable connecting it to the internet. Shortly after that, rescue efforts brought cases of COVID-19 to the country, triggering an outbreak in the island nation that only recorded its first infection in October 2021.
Now, according to the World Bank estimate, it would cost $90 million to repair all damage caused by the volcano and tsunami in Tonga, which is more than 18 percent of the country’s GDP…
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