Will this have a cooling effect on the Earth this year? I seem to remember global temperatures fell after the big one in the Philippines.
Yes about .5deg
How big was the Tonga eruption?
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Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#92Pretty cool way to look at it. My take away ... Florida is almost as big as Britain? Wow, I didn't realize how small Britain was.
Yes, these images are incidentally an excellent reminder to Europeans of how big the United States is. I read a lot of criticisms of the US from people overseas that seem to rest on a lack of understanding of the scale of the country. The US is huge. A volcanic plume that covers most of Britain or Spain would only cover about half of California. You can wrap your head around it using "Measure distance" in Google Maps…
Bit similar to how everyone misunderstands the size of Africa. Here's a nice toy to play around with for a couple of hours: https://thetruesize.com
So it makes sense to compare the US to Europe as a continent. Got it. What kind of criticism have you read that is wrong due to a misunderstanding of the scale of the US?
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#93Pretty cool way to look at it. My take away ... Florida is almost as big as Britain? Wow, I didn't realize how small Britain was.
Yes, these images are incidentally an excellent reminder to Europeans of how big the United States is. I read a lot of criticisms of the US from people overseas that seem to rest on a lack of understanding of the scale of the country. The US is huge. A volcanic plume that covers most of Britain or Spain would only cover about half of California. You can wrap your head around it using "Measure distance" in Google Maps…
I find the EU is a better frame of reference for the US than any given country is.
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#94I would like to see, "MEDIA COVERAGE OF Tonga eruption compared as if it had happened in various Nations". Because apparently no one knows anybody who lives in Tonga with a camera, but damn that high tide at the Berkeley marina was crazy!!
I have a great aunt who lives in Tonga - my Grandma spoke to her a couple days ago. Apparently people on the main Island (Tongatapu) are mainly fine - her main issue is a bunch of ash on her roof, which apparently is going to cost for $500 to get removed from local tradespeople.
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#95Someone else estimated the Tonga explosion at 10 megatons [1] and it was heard thousands of miles away. Bear in mind, humans have detonated nuclear weapons larger than this, most famously the Tsar Bomba [2] at 50 megatons. Compare this to something not that long ago: Krakatoa, estimated at 200 megatons [3].
Then compare this to the Year Without Summer (536 AD) [4]:
> Falling in the time known as the 'Dark Ages', the year 536 AD fully embraced this moniker as Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia were plunged into 24-hour darkness for 18 months. Summer temperatures plummeted between 1.5-2.5°C causing crops to fail and millions to starve to death.
All of this has happened in the last 10,000 years, which is regarded as a relatively stable period and a mere blink of the eye in cosmic timelines. I'm reminded of the thin blue line [5]. You begin to realize how narrow a niche we live in.
Humanity almost died out 70,000 years ago [6]. It's not really known why. There are lots of theories on the cause. It's estimated the population dropped into the tens of thousands. It's actually a big reason why there is little genetic diversity in humans (compared to other primates, for example).
Far worse has happened on Earth and will likely happen again: the Chicxulub impact, supervolcanic eruptions like Yellowstone (about every 700,000 years in recent times), the magnetic poles flipping (and what that'll do to solar radiation hitting the Earth) and so on.
And all of these pale into comparison to any space-based cataclysmic events (eg gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, magnatars, neutron star and black hole mergers).
It really makes you think how fragile our existence is.
[1]: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073800454/nasa-scientists-es...
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa#:~:text=With%20an%20e...
[4]: https://www.history.co.uk/articles/what-was-the-worst-year-i...
[5]: http://lightexhibit.org/earth_atmosphere.html#:~:text=Earth'....
[6]: https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/10/22/163397584/h...
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#96This looks like a tedious process that I would have totally done on my own had I thought of it. By that I mean the painstaking process of matting out each frame, then randomly placing it on places of the map, just because I could, just for the lulz. I'm not discounting it as "i could have thought of that", but appreciation for how useful it actually is. Some people cannot grasp certain things without visuals, and thi…
How about this tool? https://evergiven-everywhere.glitch.me/ Granted, it's the Evergiven, but how hard would it be to exchange the image?
You can choose the 2022 Tonga eruption example on the tool. https://www.leventhalmap.org/projects/insizeor/
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#97Is this expected to have a global climate impact?
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#98Heard it go bang, 2600km away, echoing through the hills around our place at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. That's pretty staggering to think about it. Then to see other peoples Home Assistants around the world pick up the change in pressure on opposite sides of the planet. Mental, just mental...
Talk about long distance effects.... "Tonga volcanic eruption shockwave reached the Netherlands" https://nltimes.nl/2022/01/16/tonga-volcanic-eruption-shockw...
There was a report from a climate org in Miami that they recognized the pressure pulse 9 times, once each ~35 hours since the eruption.
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#99Most of Tonga is covered in ash. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60065767
Re: How big was the Tonga eruption?
#100Is this expected to have a global climate impact?
The Wikipedia page[1] for the event says a temporary drop of 0.1-0.5 degrees C for the next 12-15 months.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Hunga_Tonga_eruption_and_...