50 million tons of water vapor from Tonga's eruption could warm Earth for years

Scientists are still analyzing the impact of the underwater volcano that erupted in January, and they think it could warm the planet.

In addition to huge quantities of ash and volcanic gases, researchers estimated that the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apa released 50 million tons of water into the atmosphere. According to a new study, this massive vapor injection could cause a cycle of stratospheric cooling and surface heating for months to come.

The most powerful eruption on Earth in decades took place in the month of January. The blast caused pillars of ash, steam and gas to soar more than 20 km into the air.

There were record-breaking winds at the edge of space.

Big volcanic eruptions cool down the planet by beinglching sulfur dioxide into the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. According to the National Science Foundation's University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, particles of rock and ash can block the sun's rays. Mass extinctions millions of years ago may have been caused by widespread and violent volcanic activity in the past.

Volcanic eruptions have shown planet cooling powers. Live Science reported that aerosols from Mount Pinatubo lowered global temperatures by at least one year.

About 2% of the sulfur dioxide that was released by Mount Pinatubo during the 1991 eruption was expelled by Underwater Tonga.

In underwater volcanoes, the interaction of water and hot magma can cause huge quantities of water and steam into the eruption column. The cloud extended over 17 miles into the atmosphere within a day.

The amount of water in the volcano was analyzed by the researchers using instruments called radiosondes, which were attached to weather balloons and sent into the volcano. As these instruments rise through the atmosphere, their sensors measure temperature, air pressure and relative humidity, and transmit that data to a receiver on the ground.

Earth's surface will be heating up, though it's unclear by how much, thanks to the atmospheric water vapor absorbing solar radiation and re-emits it as heat. The scientists said it would take longer for the warming effect to be dissipated because the vapor is lighter than other volcanic aerosols.

According to Live Science, prior research into the eruption found that the amount of water in the air could potentially weaken the ozone layer.

Detailed studies will need to be done to quantify the effect on the amount of ozone because other chemical reactions may play a role.

It was originally published on Live Science