ROOT CAUSE: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, 2022 (VEI 5.7)

Joined
Aug 30, 2019
Messages
291
Volcanos make a difference.
"The Kingdom of Tonga, located in the South Pacific, experienced one of the biggest eruptions in recorded history in 2022. The submarine volcano first began to rumble in December 2021, the eruption started on Jan. 13, 2022 and it reached its steamy climax on Jan. 15, 2022 Because the volcano is underwater, seawater that came into contact with the erupting magma was instantly superheated. As a result, the blast, which measured a VEI 5.7, injected 50 million tons (45 million metric tons) of water vapor into the atmosphere, or enough to warm the planet for years. The blast extended for 162 miles (260 kilometers) and a pillar of ash, steam and gas stretched 12 miles (20 km) into the air, the tallest in recorded history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The giant blast released energy equivalent to more than 100 Hiroshima bombs, NASA said"
 
the blast, which measured a VEI 5.7, injected 50 million tons (45 million metric tons) of water vapor into the atmosphere, or enough to warm the planet for years. …….…..
according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Nothing a few million more wind turbines, solar Farms, and EVs, would not be able to compensate for !…….maybe ?
 
Source? Because this:

injected 50 million tons (45 million metric tons) of water vapor into the atmosphere, or enough to warm the planet for years.

Is incorrect for a couple of reasons. First, though water vapor is a greenhouse gas, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is a result of climate conditions and not a cause of them. Any excess water vapor emission that isn't held in the air by temperature and pressure conditions precipitates out. Also, 50 million tons isn't much in the big picture; it's less than half of one day's average CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels. (And excess CO2 can't precipitate out.) There are over 360 million square kilometers of ocean surface on earth to evaporate or sublimate water from. 50 million tons is probably not even a rounding error in the overall water cycle.

Because whoever wrote this got it so wrong, it makes me wonder who they are, and whether their screwup was accidental because the writer is an idiot, or intentional, made to deceive the foolish.
 
Last edited:
wrote this got it so wrong, it makes me wonder who they are, and whether their screwup was accidental because the writer is an idiot, or intentional, made to deceive the foolish.
From the OP….”according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”
..are you suggesting they have screwed up, idiots, or intentionally deceptive ?
(And excess CO2 can't precipitate out.
Err ?..not quite true..
atmospheric CO2 is in hetrogenious equlibrium with dissolved CO2 in the oceans, (Chatelier's principle,) such that any increase in atmospheric CO2 will automatically increase the disolved oceanic CO2 until a ballance is restored.
That is the whole basis for the “CO2 causes Acidification of the Oceans “ argument.…..
…it makes me wonder ……?…etc etc

Oh, and Wiki has many references to scientific studies on this eruption, including this..

“NASA satellite Aura detected the eruption using its microwave limb sounder. It measures ozone, water vapor and other atmospheric gases, and can penetrate obstacles such as ash clouds.[58] The underwater explosion also sent 146 million tons of water from the South Pacific Ocean into the stratosphere.[59] The amount of water vapor ejected was 10 percent of the stratosphere's typical stock.[60] It was enough to temporarily warm the surface of Earth. It is estimated that an excess of water vapour should remain for 5–10 years.“
 
Last edited:
From the OP….”according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”
..are you suggesting they have screwed up, idiots, or intentionally deceptive ?

The quote invokes NOAA's description of the ash plume size, but the "warm the planet for years" nonsense is clearly not from NOAA because it's stupid and wrong.
 
It seems others have a different opinion..

The Hunga Tonga‐Hunga Ha'apai Hydration of the Stratosphere​

L. Millán,
corresponding author
1 M. L. Santee, 1 A. Lambert, 1 N. J. Livesey, 1 F. Werner, 1 M. J. Schwartz, 1H. C. Pumphrey, 2 G. L. Manney, 3 , 4 Y. Wang, 1 , 5 H. Su, 1 L. Wu, 1 W. G. Read, 1 and L. Froidevaux 1

Following the 15 January 2022 Hunga Tonga‐Hunga Ha'apai eruption, several trace gases measured by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) displayed anomalous stratospheric values. Trajectories and radiance simulations confirm that the H2O, SO2, and HCl enhancements were injected by the eruption. In comparison with those from previous eruptions, the SO2 and HCl mass injections were unexceptional, although they reached higher altitudes. In contrast, the H2O injection was unprecedented in both magnitude (far exceeding any previous values in the 17‐year MLS record) and altitude (penetrating into the mesosphere). We estimate the mass of H2O injected into the stratosphere to be 146 ± 5 Tg, or ∼10% of the stratospheric burden. It may take several years for the H2O plume to dissipate. This eruption could impact climate not through surface cooling due to sulfate aerosols, but rather through surface warming due to the radiative forcing from the excess stratospheric H2O.
.. who should we believe is stupid and wrong ?
 
Back
Top