The eruption of the Hunga-Tonga Volcano is noteworthy. Both in its size and in the video of satellite images, with the ejection of ash and aerosols sending columns of material to some 60,000 feet, or almost 20 km. This has the potential to contribute to climate cooling over a couple of years.
The following video quickly reviews the event, with a site Volcano Discovery describing it as “Huge”.
Pinatubo’s blast screened out enough of the Sun’s energy to drop the global temperature by about 0.5 C
Also, there is a comment posted at WUWT, that calculated the area of the blast at three hours at 127, 000 square km, which compares to Pinatubo at 110,000 square km at its three-hour extent.
Pinatubo erupted in June 1991 and eventually it was ranked as VEI-6, which is high. Eruptions continued through August, altogether ejecting the most ash and aerosols into the atmosphere since Krakatoa in 1883, which was also ranked as a VEI-6. (VEI stands for Volcanic Explosive Index).
Pinatubo’s blast screened out enough of the Sun’s energy to drop the global temperature by about 0.5 C.
On the UHA Satellite chart, the last high as at +0.7 C with the El Nino of 2016 and the December post was at +0.21 C. Down half a degree, those who have been fretting about the 1.5 C increase since some arbitrary level in the 1800s could relax a little. And Hunga-Tongo could drop it a little more.
The next chart shows the jump in temps with the El Ninos of 1998 and 2016. Without those “weather” events the trend would be much flatter. But as it stands now the decline since 2016 has been “Flattening the Curve”, mainly due to the Sun becoming quieter forcing cooling though increasing cloud cover. Nearer-term influences have been the La Nina and increasing volcanic activity.
However, the blast seems big enough so far to force some cooling
This is a preliminary review, and it will take some months to thoroughly assess the full size of the eruption. However, the blast seems big enough so far to force some cooling.
In the meantime, the last chart shows that the cooling La Nina continues:
Bob Hoye (BobHoye.com) has been researching investments for decades, which eventually included the history of financial and political markets. He considers now to be the most fascinating time for both since the Great Reformation of the 1600s. Bob casts a caustic eye on all promotions and, having a degree in geophysics, is severely critical of the audacity that a committee can “manage” not just the economy, but also the temperature of the nearest planet. He has had articles published in major financial journals and, as a speaker, has amused assemblies in a number of cities, from London to Zurich to Tokyo.
