University of Miami: Tonga volcano eruption was the largest natural explosion in 100 years
The eruption of the Tonga volcano in 2022 was the largest natural explosion in the last century. This is reported University of Miami.
University of Miami professor Sam Purkis and his fellow scientists decided to measure the exact power of the eruption. To do this, they used a combination of before-and-after satellite imagery, drone mapping, and field observations.
The results of the study showed how the complex shape of the shallow bottom in the region worked like a low-velocity wave trap. She, as scientists noted, gave rise to a tsunami with waves up to 85 meters high a minute after the initial explosion.
In addition, it became known that the power of the volcanic eruption was about 15 megatons, and it competed in this parameter with the Krakatoa eruption of 1883.
On January 15, 2022, the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted with such force that huge amounts of ash, gas and water were released into the atmosphere. Unlike other large eruptions, the explosion released a huge amount of water (146 tons), which had a warming effect. Because the explosion was powerful, most of this water reached the stratosphere, meaning it would take many years for it to settle back to Earth.
On January 26, scientists at Oxford University estimated global temperature changes due to a volcanic eruption. Experts have suggested that the impact will be large enough to temporarily raise average global temperatures by 1.5 degrees Celsius above the limit set by the Paris Agreement back in 2015.
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