Hunga Tonga undersea eruption might have damaged the ozone layer

(Himawari-8 satellite https://bit.ly/3XLE79q)

The Antarctic ozone hole could have increased as a consequence of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano eruption in January 2022.

Scientists suggest it will provoke the entry into the atmosphere of a large amount of water ejected by the volcano.

However, according to the researchers, this phenomenon will be temporary and will not affect the overall downward trend.

The polar regions are critical points in the cycle of constant renewal of the ozone shield that protects earthly life from the harshest part of the solar ultraviolet.

There, at low temperatures, polar stratospheric clouds are formed, containing particles of sulfuric acid aerosols in high concentrations, in reactions with which ozone is destroyed.

Over Antarctica, ozone depletion is exacerbated by the presence of a stable winter atmospheric vortex that prevents the entry of ozone from low latitudes.

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GIANT ERUPTION
One of the most important sources of stratospheric sulfate aerosols is volcanoes, which eject a large volume of pyroclastic products.

However, volcanic activity can affect the ozone cycle in another way: through water.

Scientists were able to investigate how this happens after the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai explosion over the southeast Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2022.

The eruption not only caused a series of tsunamis, but also responded with jumps in atmospheric pressure and threw out a volcanic plume to a height of 58 kilometers.

Due to the contact of magma with ocean water, a hydrothermal explosion occurred at Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai, sending at least 50 million tons of water vapor into the stratosphere.

This increased the water content of the stratosphere by 10%. According to some estimates, the release of water has reached a value of 146 million tons.

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OZONE AFFECTED
Now, researchers from the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Atmospheric Monitoring Service of the Copernicus program tried to predict how the water from that explosion will affect the ozone layer.

According to the scientists, its presence will entail a significant decrease in temperatures in the stratosphere in the Southern Hemisphere - even over middle latitudes.

The result will be more frequent formation of polar stratospheric clouds during the winter months.

Then, from around September, when sunlight returns to the polar regions, more intense UV-induced ozone destruction will begin, and the Antarctic ozone hole will grow in size.

In 2022, this scenario did not materialize, but the researchers believe that some of the water that entered the stratosphere during the volcanic eruption will inevitably fall into the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.

It is possible that this will happen in the coming years, possibly as early as 2023, and will cause a serious weakening of the ozone layer.

The authors point out that it should be temporary and not break the general trend towards the gradual reduction of the ozone hole.

Sources:

• Space.com: https://www.space.com/hunga-tonga-will-make-ozone-hole-larger
• BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64215660

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#science #volcano #ozone #antarctica #climate #news #nftmc