The Ice Age, Climate Change, and a Tonga Volcano
On some enchanted evening, you may want to journey the south Pacific from Hawai'i to New Zealand. On the way, you will see the archipelago Kingdom of Tonga. It has 136 islands, but people only live on 36 of them. Most of those are on the largest island, Tongatapu. There was a big volcanic eruption. The volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai is one of those that is mostly submerged and sticks up out of the ocean. It is some distance from the main island, but it made an impression. Satellite view of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai erupting, cropped from NASA et alia , (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) Eruptions are unpredictable. Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai had erupted throughout its history, and several have occurred since 2009. HT-HH had been making noise for a few weeks more recently, presenting a minor eruption. The eruption on 15 January 2022 caused tsunamis, the shock wave was heard all the way to Alaska, and Australia and other areas had to deal with ash ...