Washington (CAR) Analysis | January 20, 2022, by Climate Journalist Noreen Wise; Image Credit AdobeStock

The massive volcanic explosion that obliterated the young island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in Tonga on January 15, 2022 stunned volcanologists and experts around the world. “This is by far the highest volcanic plume we’ve ever measured with CALIPSO,” said Jason Tackett, a researcher at NASA’s Langley Research Center, as reported in NASA’s Earth Observatory article. Tonga is a nation of more than 150 islands with less than 100,000 inhabitants living on 35 of the islands.