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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.