The January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in the South Pacific has already set a series of world records, including a tsunami and a decline in regional and global temperatures. Now, it appears, we can add another record.
Per an article in the journal Science, the Hunga Tonga eruption sent a cloud of volcanic gas and ash over 35 miles into the sky. Forget the stratosphere! This mighty eruption went well into the lower mesosphere and, per the Science article, “higher than any volcanic plume previously recorded.”