This 2022 Eruption Was So Underrated, It Left Scientists Baffled

Bright Side

Did you know there was an eruption in 2022 so wild it had scientists scratching their heads? 🌋 It happened underwater when the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in the Pacific Ocean erupted with a force so massive, it sent shockwaves around the globe—literally. The eruption created an ash plume that soared higher than any we've ever seen, even into space, and it triggered a tsunami that rippled across oceans. 🌊 What left everyone baffled was the sheer amount of water vapor the volcano blasted into the atmosphere, potentially affecting weather patterns for years. Experts say this eruption was one of the most powerful in over a century, yet so many people barely heard about it!  Credit: Tonga Geological Services / YouTube GeologyHub / YouTube Best Documentary / YouTube Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00On January 14, 2022, residents of Anchorage, Alaska, heard a series of loud bangs.

00:08They didn't stop for a half an hour.

00:10As they found later, the source of the bangs was almost 6,000 miles away, in the Tongan

00:16Archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

00:26The Hunga Tonga underwater volcano abruptly woke up from its sound sleep.

00:32It last erupted at the end of December 2021 after several years of inactivity.

00:37Hunga Tonga sent a large plume of ash into the stratosphere that was seen in the capital

00:43city of Tonga, 43 miles away from the volcano.

00:47In the following days, it was emitting steam and gas to the height of 7 miles.

00:52Plus, it was letting out ash that accumulated next to it and even made the island on which

00:57it was standing increase in size.

01:00Then it went back to sleep, and the officials even announced it was dormant.

01:05But just a couple of weeks later, it woke up again with a crazy force.

01:11It sent ash clouds 12 miles into the atmosphere.

01:15It blocked the sun in some places, and rained down from the sky.

01:19The sound waves from the eruption traveled around the planet several times.

01:24People in Fiji heard a sound that reminded them of thunder.

01:27Some booms even reached Canada.

01:30Shock waves went around the Earth four times in Japan and Utah, and at least twice in Massachusetts.

01:37The eruption caused tens of thousands of lightning flashes.

01:41It also triggered a mega-tsunami hundreds of feet high.

01:44It caused damage to buildings and infrastructure, such as underwater cables.

01:49The extreme waves traveled all the way to the California coast, and there was an unusually

01:54high tide along the Pacific coast of Canada.

01:58Scientists studied seismic data to understand what caused such a massive eruption.

02:03Their research model showed that there was a big blast, likely because gas got trapped

02:08in rocks, like how a pressure cooker works when it's overcooked.

02:13This blast released a huge amount of energy, as much as five of the biggest underground

02:17nuclear tests.

02:19It all happened under a shallow part of the sea, where gas-filled rock was trapped.

02:30Normally when a volcano erupts, the fumes cause a temporary cooling effect on the Earth's

02:35surface.

02:36But Hunga Tonga's eruption was different.

02:38It didn't produce many fumes, but released a massive amount of water vapor, equal to

02:4460,000 Olympic swimming pools.

02:46The intense heat of the eruption turned vast amounts of seawater into steam, which then

02:51blasted high into the atmosphere.

02:54All that water vapor ended up in the stratosphere, a layer of the atmosphere that's too dry

02:58to form clouds or rain.

03:01Scientists don't have any observations of volcanic eruptions like Hunga Tonga to predict

03:05its long-term effects on our weather patterns.

03:08This is because the only way to measure stratospheric water vapor is with special satellites, which

03:14have only been around since 1979, and there hasn't been an eruption similar to Hunga

03:19Tonga in that time.

03:21In fact, the Tonga eruption is the most well-recorded blast of its kind in recent history.

03:27Scientists had lots of tools to study it, like satellites that took pictures from space

03:32and sensors that listened to the vibrations and movements in the Earth.

03:36There was a similar eruption in 1991 at a volcano in the Philippines, but back then,

03:41they didn't have as many advanced tools as they do now to study it closely.

03:47Experts from different countries looked at satellite data right after the Hunga Tonga

03:51eruption.

03:52They wanted to find out how long water vapor would stay in the stratosphere, where it would

03:57go, and, of course, what this would mean for the planet and for all of us.

04:02The first big result of the eruption, at least partially, was a huge hole in the stratosphere

04:07that was hanging on for several months in 2023.

04:11By the time it appeared, the water vapor had reached the polar stratosphere over Antarctica.

04:17But Hunga Tonga ended up with just a minimal effect on global average temperatures, at

04:22least for now.

04:23Let's just hope it won't repeat the story of Mount Tambora volcano in present-day Indonesia.

04:29Over two centuries ago, in 1815, this bad guy interrupted and caused the year without

04:35a summer.

04:36In the following year, the winter was unusually cold and wet across Europe and North America.

04:42There were also some catastrophic tsunamis, destroying homes that took 10,000 lives and

04:4780,000 more who fell ill in the aftermath.

04:51You can't miss an event like Hunga Tonga or Tambora eruption, but some underwater volcanoes

04:57are discovered by accident.

04:59A passenger on a commercial flight looked out her window above the Pacific Ocean and

05:03saw a weirdly colored patch on the water.

05:06She thought it could be an oil slick or a floating pumice raft, which is a tell-tale

05:11sign of a recent volcanic eruption.

05:13She decided to send a photo of this scene to a geologist.

05:17And that's how scientists found one of the largest volcanoes in the world, Havre,

05:22is hiding about 3,000 feet below the surface.

05:26In 2012, Havre had a massive eruption that lasted about 90 days.

05:31Hot lava poured out of 14 different vents around the volcano's semi-circle-shaped

05:36opening.

05:37Havre is just one of many volcanic systems covered by thousands of feet of water.

05:42These volcanoes are the most active on Earth and are part of a giant system called mid-ocean

05:47ridges that stretches around the world.

05:50This system produces about 75% of all the magma that comes out of Earth's volcanoes

05:55each year.

05:56It releases over half a cubic mile of lava.

06:00When the magma cools down, it forms the edges of new ocean plates, which are like giant

06:04puzzle pieces that make up the Earth's crust.

06:08A team of scientists studied material left on the ocean floor by volcanic eruptions from

06:13the Bronze Age.

06:14About 3,600 years ago, a volcano that was partly underwater in the southern Aegean Sea

06:21woke up with a bang.

06:23This eruption destroyed the island of Santorini and sent massive amounts of ash, rocks, and

06:29gases into the air.

06:30It left behind thick layers of ash and rock that settled in piles on the ocean floor.

06:36Scientists have been studying the ancient Santorini eruption for several years to figure

06:40out what happens during such massive ones.

06:43Their research helps explain how future volcanic eruptions could affect the weather on our

06:48planet.

06:50The study also helps scientists understand the strength of the eruptions, how high the

06:55eruption columns might go, and the sizes of the waves that form when all that ash and

07:00rock settles into terraces on the ocean floor.

07:03This information will help predict the dangers of future eruptions.

07:08When a volcano erupts, the last place you want to be is inside it, but scientists did

07:14it for you.

07:15Well, kinda.

07:16They produced a smart new imaging technique that uses the best ideas from medical imaging

07:22and optical telescopes.

07:24Matrix imaging, that's what it's called, makes it easier to understand what's happening

07:28underground, even when there aren't many sensors available.

07:32These sensors, called geophones, detect and record the movement of seismic waves, which

07:37are vibrations that travel through the Earth.

07:40By studying these waves, scientists can learn about the distinct types of rocks and how

07:45they are arranged beneath the surface.

07:48The researchers test their method on a volcano in Guadalupe in the Caribbean Sea.

07:53There aren't so many geophones on this site, but the scientists combine the data from multiple

07:57geophones thanks to this new tech.

08:00They used a special trick called the memory effect to reverse the distortions that happen

08:05when seismic waves bounce off different underground materials and figure out what the original

08:10signals look like.

08:12The researchers could clearly see the structure inside the volcano, down to a depth of about

08:17six miles, with incredibly detailed images in a resolution of over 300 feet.

08:23They found out that there are many layers of magma stored underground.

08:28These layers are connected to other deep parts of the Earth.

08:31Knowing about these layers and how they work could help scientists make better guesses

08:36about when a volcano might erupt.

08:38If they can do that, they might be able to warn people earlier and keep them safe from

08:44dangerous eruptions.

08:46That's it for today!

08:49So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:53friends!

08:54Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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