The Real Climate Impact of the Hunga-Tonga Volcanic Eruption: Don’t Be Fooled By Denialism

Volcanoes are like Earth’s climate regulators, operating on both long and short timescales. While they play a crucial role in the carbon cycle over millions of years, short-term volcanic eruptions can also have significant but temporary effects on our climate. For years, the summit of the massive undersea volcano known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai peeked out above the waves in the southern Pacific Ocean, looking like a miniature island. On January 14th, 2022, the drowned caldera under the South Pacific isles erupted in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/14/upshot/tonga-pressure-wave.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">one of the most dramatic geologic events in recorded history</a>. The volcanic eruption <a href="https://www.popsci.com/science/tonga-volcanic-plume/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">shot</a> gas and ash 53 kilometers into Earth’s mesosphere. It darkened the sky over the 171 Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga islands. The most potent explosion observed on Earth in modern history <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.adk0181?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ScienceAdviser&utm_content=distillation&et_rid=996444776&et_cid=4893710#core-R2" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">unleashed a tsunami</a> that reached Peru, and a sonic boom heard as far as Alaska. There were global consequences, too. <a href="https://medium.com/the-new-climate/the-real-climate-impact-of-the-hunga-tonga-volcanic-eruption-dont-be-fooled-by-denialism-e4b51acefd49">Click Here</a>