I have to wonder if this will help with global climate change, even if only slightly.
Funny, I had that exact same thought. I’d love to have a mild summer.
Unfortunately (collectively) as big as this blast was - the biggest since 1991’s Mt Pinatubo eruption… it was only 2% the size. There will be minimal global impact.
Would have loved to have a camera showing the underwater segment of the Tonga explosion.
The link you posted is comparing the amount of sulfur dioxide ejected into the atmosphere, not the size of the blast. Unless there’s some science I’m not aware of that measures blast size by the quantity of sulfur dioxide, I don’t think it’s accurate to say the Tonga eruption is 2% the size of the Pinatubo eruption.
-Tom
P.S. Sorry to everyone for screwing up the threads. I tried to merge this with our current volcano thread, but for some reason that was in the Hardware subforum, so in the process of mushing everything together and moving it into Everything Else…it ended up looking like it does now. :(
In terms of the immediate discussion - effects on global climate - the SO2 emissions seem to be the yardstick from what I can read online. So this eruption should have only 2% the relative effect on global climate as Pinatubo’s…
Ah, I didn’t realize you were responding to another comment, since your post wasn’t a reply. Apologies for the confusion.
Again, that’s not what the article says, but I appreciate you clarifying. I think you’re getting tripped up on the 2% figure. :)
Anyway, I’m not trying to “well, actually…” you so much as trying to understand the science myself. But, yes, you’re absolutely right to respond to Benny and Jpinard that it looks like the effects on climate change will be negligible.
-Tom
Sorry, that was my fault; quirky interpretation of “hardware” to include earth science not just tech.
So it’s your fault that I missed all those cool volcano videos posted upthread that are now just dead links!
-Tom
This is amazing:
Apparently it successfully circumnavigated the entire globe.
According to the article @dtolman linked above, it circled the globe twice in one day:
The shockwave produced by the eruption rippled through Earth’s atmosphere at 680 mph (1,100 km/h), nearly the speed of sound, circling the planet twice within a day. Barometers detected pressure changes of 2 to 3 millibars all over Europe, according to the World Meteorological Organization, as a result of the passing shockwave.
It’s unreal having a place on Earth where communication has been practically wiped out.
The Red Cross charity has some relief workers on the ground, but has not been able to make contact with them for days. A spokesman for the Red Cross explained: “The last time we spoke to colleagues was on Saturday. That is a concern.”
Shouldn’t satellite comms work? I mean, if nothing else, can’t they drop a couple of Starlink kits in with all the relief supplies that are undoubtedly making their way over?
Last I read, the large amount of ash in the atmosphere was causing interference for sat phones.
I smell a movie script coming!
This seems like something they could check.
Is it just me or do you guys get a weird wobbly-legged sinking sensation looking at that picture and pondering the implications? I felt the same way looking at a chart someone posted on Twitter of lake depths showing Lake Baikal compared to other lakes. There’s something about these extreme depths and the scale of things down there that makes it feel like the bottom is dropping out from beneath me. A kind of deeply psychological cosmic vertigo halfway between being tickled and tortured.
And it’s cheaper than going to Six Flags to get on the rollercoaster!
-Tom
I went snorkeling once in the Bahamas. The boat took us out to a reef that was, I assume, on the edge of the seafloor shelf or something. There was the reef, then you swim out another few yards and the ocean floor just plummeted into darkness. It was horrifying to me. I couldn’t look at it, and I couldn’t look away.
This beautiful clear seabed, colorful reef full of life, then just behind it… nothing. The abyss.