The explosive event increased atmospheric water vapor by 5%.
More than eight months after the underwater volcano near Tonga erupted on Jan. 14, scientists are still analyzing the impacts of the violent blast, and they're discovering that it could warm the planet.
Tonga's eruption, which began on Jan. 13 and peaked two days later, was the most powerful witnessed on Earth in decades. The blast extended for 162 miles and sent pillars of ash, steam and gas soaring more than 12 miles into the air, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .
Tonga expelled approximately 441,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, about 2% of the amount spewed by Mount Pinatubo during the 1991 eruption. But unlike Pinatubo , underwater Tonga's volcanic plumes sent"substantial amounts of water" into the stratosphere, the zone that extends from around 31 miles above Earth's surface down to around 4 to 12 miles , according to the National Weather Service .
The researchers analyzed the amount of water in the plumes by evaluating data gathered by instruments called radiosondes, which were attached to weather balloons and sent aloft into the volcanic plumes. As these instruments rise through the atmosphere, their sensors measure temperature, air pressure and relative humidity, transmitting that data to a receiver on the ground, according to the NWS.
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