Tonga volcanic eruption

• Some commentators have speculated in recent weeks that the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in January 2022 is to blame for searing summer temperatures this year.
• It was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in recorded history.
• Detonating underwater with the force of 100 Hiroshima bombs, the blast sent millions of tons of water vapor high into the atmosphere.

IMPACT

• Massive volcanic eruptions usually reduce temperatures because they spit out vast amounts of sulfur dioxide, which form sulfate aerosols that can reflect sunlight back into space and cool Earth’s surface temporarily.
  • But the Tonga eruption had another effect because it occurred underwater.
  • The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption is peculiar because, in addition to causing the largest increase in stratospheric aerosol in decades, it also injected vast amounts of water vapor into the stratosphere.
• Water vapor is a natural greenhouse gas that absorbs solar radiation and traps heat in the atmosphere.
• Several studies have proposed that, due to its larger and more persistent water vapor plume, the eruption could have a temporary net surface warming effect.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

• The volcano is located in the Tonga island of the South Pacific Ocean.
• It is part of the Tonga–Kermadec Islands volcanic arc formed due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate.
• It occurs along the Ring of Fire.