(MENAFN) The 2022 Hunga volcano eruption in Tonga unleashed an extraordinary steam plume, causing unprecedented climate effects, primarily driven by water vapor rather than sulfur, according to New Zealand and Tongan scientists.

In a collaborative effort, researchers from the University of Auckland and their Tongan counterparts have been studying the broader implications of submarine volcanism in the Southwestern Pacific after the Hunga eruption, which is considered the most powerful volcanic event of the modern era.

Their findings revealed that the eruption sent a staggering 3 billion tons of water vapor into the atmosphere within just one hour, propelling moisture over 57 kilometers into the stratosphere and mesosphere—setting a new record for the highest volcanic plume ever observed.

"Submarine volcanism has previously been overlooked in global climate studies, because there is typically not much atmospheric sulphur dioxide released," noted Shane Cronin, the study's co-lead author and volcanologist at the University of Auckland.

Unlike eruptions on land, such as Mount Pinatubo's 1991 eruption in the Philippines, which cooled the planet through sulfur aerosols, Hunga’s deep-sea explosion injected around 20 million tons of sulfur directly into the ocean at depths between 300 and 1,100 meters. This minimized the atmospheric impact of sulfur, raising new concerns about underwater emissions and ocean chemistry, Cronin explained.

The eruption also triggered a deadly tsunami and inflicted significant damage on critical infrastructure in Tonga, underscoring the previously underestimated climate effects of submarine volcanism, as highlighted in a study.

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