HHTH Transcript

HHTH Transcript

Narration: Kathleen Gaeta

Transcript:

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On January 15 2022, the

uninhabited volcanic island

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Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai

erupted violently, creating

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worldwide shockwaves, sonic

booms, tsunamis and powerful

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winds all while blanketing

surrounding islands and two

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centimeters of ash. It was a

fatal eruption, and its impact

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on nearby communities was

further compounded by the

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disruption caused to emergency

services. NASA has been

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following the Pacific Islands

unusual evolution for years.

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Using historical observations

and satellite data of the

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January eruption, scientists

have shed a new light on why

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this explosion is so unique and

how such a small island is

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making such a huge impact across

the planet.

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It gave us a window into a rapid

paced life history of an island

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that we can compare to hundreds

of other islands in the oceans

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over time. And these islands are

sensitive indicators for the

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activities of climate

environmental change, and we can

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project them forward even to

other planets. So what an

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opportunity

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geologic record suggests that

while the volcano may have

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produced massive explosive

eruptions in the past, eruption

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of this magnitude wasn't

expected so soon.

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This was what we call a volcanic

explosivity index six eruption,

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nothing like it's it's Krakataua

in the 19th century. And so what

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happened was this beautiful

little island 100 meters tall,

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growing forming, by the nature

of the way volcanoes and in

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water interact, was explosively

changed forever. And literally,

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the entire base of the volcano

fell hundreds of meters in to a

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shallow magma reservoir of

liquid rock chamber, literally

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under the ocean, and then

allowed the explosive

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interaction of a massive Pacific

Ocean seawater with this hot

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rock 1300 degrees Kelvin. That's

super hot, hotter than your

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oven. And that explosion with

the pressure move the water, the

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rock, the small amounts of ash

that were part of building the

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island, all the way into the

atmosphere and triggered a large

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tsunami, a 15 meter high super

wave that traveled out hundreds

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of miles, buried some local

islands as part of the Tonga

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archipelago, but allowed us to

see the power of mother nature's

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volcanoes. When water and liquid

rock come together to shape our

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planet.

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NASA and ESA satellites clocked

wind speeds up to 450 miles per

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hour, just hours after the

eruption in showed material

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rising up to 36 miles, the

highest volcanic plume ever

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measured. Within two weeks, the

main plume of volcanic materials

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circled the entire globe

injecting dust particles into

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the stratosphere that remain for

upwards of a year. NASA also

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found that the volcano injected

a tremendous amount of water

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vapor into the Earth's

stratosphere. The increase of

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water vapor which traps heat

could modify atmospheric

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chemistry and have a warming

effect on the Earth's surface.

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So outside of its sheer

magnitude, what makes this

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eruption so unique? Well, it's

really a matter of our ability

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to see it. At the end of 2021,

the islands volcanic activity

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started picking up small

underwater eruptions began to

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reshape the islands landscape

expanding the island. These

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shallow water events are

classified as cert saying

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eruptions were hot magma

interacts explosively with

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water. In other words, we've

been able to see the birth of

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the island happen in ways we

haven't been able to before. And

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with modern satellite

technology, we're also able to

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see the end of the islands

lifecycle in new detail, as we

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did with the January eruption.

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This has happened in Earth's

history in famous places like

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Yellowstone Taupo New Zealand,

Krakatoa. And now in the island

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nation of Tonga, it's a we have

an opportunity 21st century

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techniques, laser altimeters

like ICESat, two satellite

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techniques that can see its

scales of submitter put those

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together and tell a story of the

birth and death of this island.

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NASA's vantage point of Hunga

Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai could even

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be used as a means to study

other planets in our solar

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system, specifically, the role

that volcanic islands play in

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water planets like Mars and

Venus.

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We live on an ocean planet. And

so these kinds of eruptions are

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part of our history, how we got

here, as we evolved ourselves in

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the context of our planet. And

we want to take the lessons that

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we learn as we go forward as we

continue to watch what's next in

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this exciting volcano, and apply

it forward to other worlds like

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Mars and Venus that may have

harbored surface waters as

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oceans or seas and understand

them in the context of our

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Earth.

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Using geostationary satellites

and observed data, NASA

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scientists hope to learn from

the continuous evolution of this

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special volcano.

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The question is Will those come

again on Hunga Tonga and then

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explode again? We don't know. So

we need to use what we saw from

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this eruption in 22. To train

ourselves for what to be able to

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predict. And so this is our

chance to learn and then to

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apply it to the other ocean

worlds nearby that we really

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hunger to study.