September 01, 2022
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai, an underwater volcano that erupted in the South Pacific Ocean on January 15, created a tsunami and a sonic boom that circled the world twice. But along with that, around 146 tera-grams (1 tera-gram is 1 trillion grams) of water vapour, which is enough water to fill 58,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, has been sent into the stratosphere. Scientists believe this could lead to the temporary warming up of the Earth’s surface.
According to scientists, there have been only two such eruptions in the past 18 years. The extra water vapour injected by the Tonga eruption is expected to remain in the stratosphere for several years, boosting chemical reactions that could further deplete the ozone, trapping heat and warming up the Earth’s surface temporarily.
Did You Know?
Water vapour is responsible for half of the greenhouse effect on Earth.
REFLECTION: Earthly Movements
Do some research to understand why volcanoes erupt.
