One In Six Chance Of A Massive World Changing Volcanic Eruption This Century Scientists Warn

Posted: 02:02, August 18, 2022 |  Updated: 02:03, 18 August 2022  

Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century that could dramatically change the global climate and put millions of lives at risk. When the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean in January, the eruption was so large that tsunamis hit the coasts of Japan, North America, and South America, and Tonga itself was damaged which are equivalent to almost a fifth of its total GDP. But an analysis of ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica by a team at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen found that a magnitude 7 volcanic eruption – which could be 10 to 100 times larger than the one recorded in January – is a distinct possibility for this century. . Eruptions of this magnitude in the past have caused abrupt climate changes and the collapse of civilizations. But one of the UK’s leading volcanologists warned today that the world is “sadly” unprepared for such an event. Michael Cassidy, associate professor of volcanology at the University of Birmingham, told Nature: “There is no concerted action, no large-scale investment, to mitigate the global impact of large-scale eruptions. “That has to change.” Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century, which could dramatically change the world’s climate and put millions of lives at risk An eruption occurs at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano off Tonga, January 14, 2022 Satellite images show the rapid expansion of a volcanic plume after an explosive eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano shot into the stratosphere and sent a shock wave around the world on January 15, 2022 NASA said ash from the Jan. 15 underwater volcanic eruption in the remote Pacific nation of Tonga made its way thousands of feet into the atmosphere and was visible from the ISS Cassidy thought that NASA and other agencies are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to plan “planetary defense,” in other words, to prevent an asteroid or other cosmic missile from hitting the earth. But there is no global program dedicated to protecting against the devastation that could occur after a large-scale volcanic eruption—which is hundreds of times more likely to occur than asteroid and comet impacts combined. The last magnitude 7 eruption occurred in 1815 in Tambora, Indonesia, killing more than 100,000 people in a few days, but the effects were felt around the world by millions. The volcano spewed such huge amounts of ash into the air that 1815 became known as the “year without a summer” because the earth’s average temperature dropped by one degree. This negative effect on global climate caused widespread crop failures in China, Europe, and North America, while torrential rains and floods caused cholera to spread throughout India, Russia, and many other Asian nations. Cassidy said that in today’s much more populated and interconnected world, a similar explosion could now kill untold numbers of people and bring global trade routes to a standstill, causing wild price spikes and shortages on the other side of the world. The explosion in Tonga (below left) created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away, in a sonic boom that circled the globe twice The professor called on world governments to increase funding for disaster planning and monitoring of potential eruption threats, particularly as the possibility of large-scale eruptions increases amid rising sea levels and melting ice caps. Only 27 percent of volcanic eruptions since 1950 have been measured by seismometers, according to Cassidy, who also said there may be hundreds or thousands of dormant volcanoes whose locations we don’t yet know. “In our view, the lack of investment, planning and resources to deal with large explosions is reckless,” Cassidy wrote. “The discussions have to start now.”

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE JANUARY TONGA EXPLOSION?

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, an undersea volcano in the South Pacific, spewed debris up to 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted on January 15. It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island, leaving it covered in ash and cut off from outside aid. It also released somewhere between 5 to 30 megatons (5 million to 30 million tons) of TNT equivalent, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Digital elevation maps from NASA’s Earth Observatory also show the dramatic changes at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, the uppermost part of a large underwater volcano. Before the eruption earlier this month, the twin uninhabited islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai were merged by a volcanic cone to form a land mass. Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai are the same remnants of the volcano’s northern and western caldera rims—the cavity that forms shortly after a magma chamber is emptied. NASA said the eruption “wiped out” the volcanic island about 41 miles (65 kilometers) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. It covered the island kingdom of about 100,000 people in a layer of toxic ash, poisoning drinking water, destroying crops and completely wiping out at least two villages. Meanwhile, authorities in Peru declared an environmental disaster after waves hit an oil tanker unloading near Lima, creating a huge slick along the coast. Experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicted that the volume of water ejected into the atmosphere could be enough to temporarily affect the global average temperature. It could also temporarily enhance chemical reactions in the atmosphere that exacerbate ozone depletion. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said atmospheric scientist Dr Luis Millán.

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title: “One In Six Chance Of A Massive World Changing Volcanic Eruption This Century Scientists Warn Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Anne Perkins”

Posted: 02:02, August 18, 2022 |  Updated: 02:03, 18 August 2022  

Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century that could dramatically change the global climate and put millions of lives at risk. When the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean in January, the eruption was so large that tsunamis hit the coasts of Japan, North America, and South America, and Tonga itself was damaged which are equivalent to almost a fifth of its total GDP. But an analysis of ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica by a team at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen found that a magnitude 7 volcanic eruption – which could be 10 to 100 times larger than the one recorded in January – is a distinct possibility for this century. . Eruptions of this magnitude in the past have caused abrupt climate changes and the collapse of civilizations. But one of the UK’s leading volcanologists warned today that the world is “sadly” unprepared for such an event. Michael Cassidy, associate professor of volcanology at the University of Birmingham, told Nature: “There is no concerted action, no large-scale investment, to mitigate the global impact of large-scale eruptions. “That has to change.” Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century, which could dramatically change the world’s climate and put millions of lives at risk An eruption occurs at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano off Tonga, January 14, 2022 Satellite images show the rapid expansion of a volcanic plume after an explosive eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano shot into the stratosphere and sent a shock wave around the world on January 15, 2022 NASA said ash from the Jan. 15 underwater volcanic eruption in the remote Pacific nation of Tonga made its way thousands of feet into the atmosphere and was visible from the ISS Cassidy thought that NASA and other agencies are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to plan “planetary defense,” in other words, to prevent an asteroid or other cosmic missile from hitting the earth. But there is no global program dedicated to protecting against the devastation that could occur after a large-scale volcanic eruption—which is hundreds of times more likely to occur than asteroid and comet impacts combined. The last magnitude 7 eruption occurred in 1815 in Tambora, Indonesia, killing more than 100,000 people in a few days, but the effects were felt around the world by millions. The volcano spewed such huge amounts of ash into the air that 1815 became known as the “year without a summer” because the earth’s average temperature dropped by one degree. This negative effect on global climate caused widespread crop failures in China, Europe, and North America, while torrential rains and floods caused cholera to spread throughout India, Russia, and many other Asian nations. Cassidy said that in today’s much more populated and interconnected world, a similar explosion could now kill untold numbers of people and bring global trade routes to a standstill, causing wild price spikes and shortages on the other side of the world. The explosion in Tonga (below left) created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away, in a sonic boom that circled the globe twice The professor called on world governments to increase funding for disaster planning and monitoring of potential eruption threats, particularly as the possibility of large-scale eruptions increases amid rising sea levels and melting ice caps. Only 27 percent of volcanic eruptions since 1950 have been measured by seismometers, according to Cassidy, who also said there may be hundreds or thousands of dormant volcanoes whose locations we don’t yet know. “In our view, the lack of investment, planning and resources to deal with large explosions is reckless,” Cassidy wrote. “The discussions have to start now.”

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE JANUARY TONGA EXPLOSION?

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, an undersea volcano in the South Pacific, spewed debris up to 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted on January 15. It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island, leaving it covered in ash and cut off from outside aid. It also released somewhere between 5 to 30 megatons (5 million to 30 million tons) of TNT equivalent, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Digital elevation maps from NASA’s Earth Observatory also show the dramatic changes at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, the uppermost part of a large underwater volcano. Before the eruption earlier this month, the twin uninhabited islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai were merged by a volcanic cone to form a land mass. Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai are the same remnants of the volcano’s northern and western caldera rims—the cavity that forms shortly after a magma chamber is emptied. NASA said the eruption “wiped out” the volcanic island about 41 miles (65 kilometers) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. It covered the island kingdom of about 100,000 people in a layer of toxic ash, poisoning drinking water, destroying crops and completely wiping out at least two villages. Meanwhile, authorities in Peru declared an environmental disaster after waves hit an oil tanker unloading near Lima, creating a huge slick along the coast. Experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicted that the volume of water ejected into the atmosphere could be enough to temporarily affect the global average temperature. It could also temporarily enhance chemical reactions in the atmosphere that exacerbate ozone depletion. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said atmospheric scientist Dr Luis Millán.

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title: “One In Six Chance Of A Massive World Changing Volcanic Eruption This Century Scientists Warn Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Donna Du”

Posted: 02:02, August 18, 2022 |  Updated: 02:03, 18 August 2022  

Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century that could dramatically change the global climate and put millions of lives at risk. When the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean in January, the eruption was so large that tsunamis hit the coasts of Japan, North America, and South America, and Tonga itself was damaged which are equivalent to almost a fifth of its total GDP. But an analysis of ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica by a team at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen found that a magnitude 7 volcanic eruption – which could be 10 to 100 times larger than the one recorded in January – is a distinct possibility for this century. . Eruptions of this magnitude in the past have caused abrupt climate changes and the collapse of civilizations. But one of the UK’s leading volcanologists warned today that the world is “sadly” unprepared for such an event. Michael Cassidy, associate professor of volcanology at the University of Birmingham, told Nature: “There is no concerted action, no large-scale investment, to mitigate the global impact of large-scale eruptions. “That has to change.” Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century, which could dramatically change the world’s climate and put millions of lives at risk An eruption occurs at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano off Tonga, January 14, 2022 Satellite images show the rapid expansion of a volcanic plume after an explosive eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano shot into the stratosphere and sent a shock wave around the world on January 15, 2022 NASA said ash from the Jan. 15 underwater volcanic eruption in the remote Pacific nation of Tonga made its way thousands of feet into the atmosphere and was visible from the ISS Cassidy thought that NASA and other agencies are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to plan “planetary defense,” in other words, to prevent an asteroid or other cosmic missile from hitting the earth. But there is no global program dedicated to protecting against the devastation that could occur after a large-scale volcanic eruption—which is hundreds of times more likely to occur than asteroid and comet impacts combined. The last magnitude 7 eruption occurred in 1815 in Tambora, Indonesia, killing more than 100,000 people in a few days, but the effects were felt around the world by millions. The volcano spewed such huge amounts of ash into the air that 1815 became known as the “year without a summer” because the earth’s average temperature dropped by one degree. This negative effect on global climate caused widespread crop failures in China, Europe, and North America, while torrential rains and floods caused cholera to spread throughout India, Russia, and many other Asian nations. Cassidy said that in today’s much more populated and interconnected world, a similar explosion could now kill untold numbers of people and bring global trade routes to a standstill, causing wild price spikes and shortages on the other side of the world. The explosion in Tonga (below left) created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away, in a sonic boom that circled the globe twice The professor called on world governments to increase funding for disaster planning and monitoring of potential eruption threats, particularly as the possibility of large-scale eruptions increases amid rising sea levels and melting ice caps. Only 27 percent of volcanic eruptions since 1950 have been measured by seismometers, according to Cassidy, who also said there may be hundreds or thousands of dormant volcanoes whose locations we don’t yet know. “In our view, the lack of investment, planning and resources to deal with large explosions is reckless,” Cassidy wrote. “The discussions have to start now.”

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE JANUARY TONGA EXPLOSION?

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, an undersea volcano in the South Pacific, spewed debris up to 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted on January 15. It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island, leaving it covered in ash and cut off from outside aid. It also released somewhere between 5 to 30 megatons (5 million to 30 million tons) of TNT equivalent, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Digital elevation maps from NASA’s Earth Observatory also show the dramatic changes at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, the uppermost part of a large underwater volcano. Before the eruption earlier this month, the twin uninhabited islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai were merged by a volcanic cone to form a land mass. Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai are the same remnants of the volcano’s northern and western caldera rims—the cavity that forms shortly after a magma chamber is emptied. NASA said the eruption “wiped out” the volcanic island about 41 miles (65 kilometers) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. It covered the island kingdom of about 100,000 people in a layer of toxic ash, poisoning drinking water, destroying crops and completely wiping out at least two villages. Meanwhile, authorities in Peru declared an environmental disaster after waves hit an oil tanker unloading near Lima, creating a huge slick along the coast. Experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicted that the volume of water ejected into the atmosphere could be enough to temporarily affect the global average temperature. It could also temporarily enhance chemical reactions in the atmosphere that exacerbate ozone depletion. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said atmospheric scientist Dr Luis Millán.

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title: “One In Six Chance Of A Massive World Changing Volcanic Eruption This Century Scientists Warn Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-27” author: “Herman Stewart”

Posted: 02:02, August 18, 2022 |  Updated: 02:03, 18 August 2022  

Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century that could dramatically change the global climate and put millions of lives at risk. When the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean in January, the eruption was so large that tsunamis hit the coasts of Japan, North America, and South America, and Tonga itself was damaged which are equivalent to almost a fifth of its total GDP. But an analysis of ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica by a team at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen found that a magnitude 7 volcanic eruption – which could be 10 to 100 times larger than the one recorded in January – is a distinct possibility for this century. . Eruptions of this magnitude in the past have caused abrupt climate changes and the collapse of civilizations. But one of the UK’s leading volcanologists warned today that the world is “sadly” unprepared for such an event. Michael Cassidy, associate professor of volcanology at the University of Birmingham, told Nature: “There is no concerted action, no large-scale investment, to mitigate the global impact of large-scale eruptions. “That has to change.” Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century, which could dramatically change the world’s climate and put millions of lives at risk An eruption occurs at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano off Tonga, January 14, 2022 Satellite images show the rapid expansion of a volcanic plume after an explosive eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano shot into the stratosphere and sent a shock wave around the world on January 15, 2022 NASA said ash from the Jan. 15 underwater volcanic eruption in the remote Pacific nation of Tonga made its way thousands of feet into the atmosphere and was visible from the ISS Cassidy thought that NASA and other agencies are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to plan “planetary defense,” in other words, to prevent an asteroid or other cosmic missile from hitting the earth. But there is no global program dedicated to protecting against the devastation that could occur after a large-scale volcanic eruption—which is hundreds of times more likely to occur than asteroid and comet impacts combined. The last magnitude 7 eruption occurred in 1815 in Tambora, Indonesia, killing more than 100,000 people in a few days, but the effects were felt around the world by millions. The volcano spewed such huge amounts of ash into the air that 1815 became known as the “year without a summer” because the earth’s average temperature dropped by one degree. This negative effect on global climate caused widespread crop failures in China, Europe, and North America, while torrential rains and floods caused cholera to spread throughout India, Russia, and many other Asian nations. Cassidy said that in today’s much more populated and interconnected world, a similar explosion could now kill untold numbers of people and bring global trade routes to a standstill, causing wild price spikes and shortages on the other side of the world. The explosion in Tonga (below left) created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away, in a sonic boom that circled the globe twice The professor called on world governments to increase funding for disaster planning and monitoring of potential eruption threats, particularly as the possibility of large-scale eruptions increases amid rising sea levels and melting ice caps. Only 27 percent of volcanic eruptions since 1950 have been measured by seismometers, according to Cassidy, who also said there may be hundreds or thousands of dormant volcanoes whose locations we don’t yet know. “In our view, the lack of investment, planning and resources to deal with large explosions is reckless,” Cassidy wrote. “The discussions have to start now.”

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE JANUARY TONGA EXPLOSION?

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, an undersea volcano in the South Pacific, spewed debris up to 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted on January 15. It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island, leaving it covered in ash and cut off from outside aid. It also released somewhere between 5 to 30 megatons (5 million to 30 million tons) of TNT equivalent, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Digital elevation maps from NASA’s Earth Observatory also show the dramatic changes at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, the uppermost part of a large underwater volcano. Before the eruption earlier this month, the twin uninhabited islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai were merged by a volcanic cone to form a land mass. Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai are the same remnants of the volcano’s northern and western caldera rims—the cavity that forms shortly after a magma chamber is emptied. NASA said the eruption “wiped out” the volcanic island about 41 miles (65 kilometers) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. It covered the island kingdom of about 100,000 people in a layer of toxic ash, poisoning drinking water, destroying crops and completely wiping out at least two villages. Meanwhile, authorities in Peru declared an environmental disaster after waves hit an oil tanker unloading near Lima, creating a huge slick along the coast. Experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicted that the volume of water ejected into the atmosphere could be enough to temporarily affect the global average temperature. It could also temporarily enhance chemical reactions in the atmosphere that exacerbate ozone depletion. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said atmospheric scientist Dr Luis Millán.

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title: “One In Six Chance Of A Massive World Changing Volcanic Eruption This Century Scientists Warn Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-29” author: “Valerie Perry”

Posted: 02:02, August 18, 2022 |  Updated: 02:03, 18 August 2022  

Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century that could dramatically change the global climate and put millions of lives at risk. When the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean in January, the eruption was so large that tsunamis hit the coasts of Japan, North America, and South America, and Tonga itself was damaged which are equivalent to almost a fifth of its total GDP. But an analysis of ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica by a team at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen found that a magnitude 7 volcanic eruption – which could be 10 to 100 times larger than the one recorded in January – is a distinct possibility for this century. . Eruptions of this magnitude in the past have caused abrupt climate changes and the collapse of civilizations. But one of the UK’s leading volcanologists warned today that the world is “sadly” unprepared for such an event. Michael Cassidy, associate professor of volcanology at the University of Birmingham, told Nature: “There is no concerted action, no large-scale investment, to mitigate the global impact of large-scale eruptions. “That has to change.” Scientists believe there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century, which could dramatically change the world’s climate and put millions of lives at risk An eruption occurs at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano off Tonga, January 14, 2022 Satellite images show the rapid expansion of a volcanic plume after an explosive eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano shot into the stratosphere and sent a shock wave around the world on January 15, 2022 NASA said ash from the Jan. 15 underwater volcanic eruption in the remote Pacific nation of Tonga made its way thousands of feet into the atmosphere and was visible from the ISS Cassidy thought that NASA and other agencies are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to plan “planetary defense,” in other words, to prevent an asteroid or other cosmic missile from hitting the earth. But there is no global program dedicated to protecting against the devastation that could occur after a large-scale volcanic eruption—which is hundreds of times more likely to occur than asteroid and comet impacts combined. The last magnitude 7 eruption occurred in 1815 in Tambora, Indonesia, killing more than 100,000 people in a few days, but the effects were felt around the world by millions. The volcano spewed such huge amounts of ash into the air that 1815 became known as the “year without a summer” because the earth’s average temperature dropped by one degree. This negative effect on global climate caused widespread crop failures in China, Europe, and North America, while torrential rains and floods caused cholera to spread throughout India, Russia, and many other Asian nations. Cassidy said that in today’s much more populated and interconnected world, a similar explosion could now kill untold numbers of people and bring global trade routes to a standstill, causing wild price spikes and shortages on the other side of the world. The explosion in Tonga (below left) created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away, in a sonic boom that circled the globe twice The professor called on world governments to increase funding for disaster planning and monitoring of potential eruption threats, particularly as the possibility of large-scale eruptions increases amid rising sea levels and melting ice caps. Only 27 percent of volcanic eruptions since 1950 have been measured by seismometers, according to Cassidy, who also said there may be hundreds or thousands of dormant volcanoes whose locations we don’t yet know. “In our view, the lack of investment, planning and resources to deal with large explosions is reckless,” Cassidy wrote. “The discussions have to start now.”

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE JANUARY TONGA EXPLOSION?

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, an undersea volcano in the South Pacific, spewed debris up to 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted on January 15. It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island, leaving it covered in ash and cut off from outside aid. It also released somewhere between 5 to 30 megatons (5 million to 30 million tons) of TNT equivalent, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Digital elevation maps from NASA’s Earth Observatory also show the dramatic changes at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, the uppermost part of a large underwater volcano. Before the eruption earlier this month, the twin uninhabited islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai were merged by a volcanic cone to form a land mass. Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai are the same remnants of the volcano’s northern and western caldera rims—the cavity that forms shortly after a magma chamber is emptied. NASA said the eruption “wiped out” the volcanic island about 41 miles (65 kilometers) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. It covered the island kingdom of about 100,000 people in a layer of toxic ash, poisoning drinking water, destroying crops and completely wiping out at least two villages. Meanwhile, authorities in Peru declared an environmental disaster after waves hit an oil tanker unloading near Lima, creating a huge slick along the coast. Experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicted that the volume of water ejected into the atmosphere could be enough to temporarily affect the global average temperature. It could also temporarily enhance chemical reactions in the atmosphere that exacerbate ozone depletion. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said atmospheric scientist Dr Luis Millán.

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