The scientific consensus on the January 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption has shifted from immediate shock to a deep understanding of its long-term legacy. A major international report released in late December 2025 confirms that this was not just a volcanic event, but a "stratospheric water-bomb" that reshaped atmospheric chemistry in ways never before seen in the satellite era. The eruption injected approximately 150 million metric tons of water vapor into the stratosphere—enough to fill

NASA has followed the Pacific Islands evolution for years. Then Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted. 🌋 “It gave us a window into a rapid-paced life history of an island that we can compare to hundreds of other islands in the oceans over time,” said Jim Garvin, Chief Scientist at NASA Goddard. Through the eyes of NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration and ESA - European Space Agency satellites, scientists are able to study the life cycle of volcanic islands – from formation to erupti

61K views · 886 reactions | On Jan. 13, 2022, the Himawari-8 satellite captured an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga.  A tidal gauge in Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, measured a one-foot tsunami wave that resulted from the blast. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operational partners at the Japan Meteorological Agency | Science Channel | Facebook

The New Zealand High Commission recently returned to Hunga to see what had become of Tonga's newest island, which formed between Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai islands following an underwater volcanic eruption in January 2015. Experts said the new island would probably exist only a few months until ocean waves wore it down. Take a look at what we found. Video credit: New Zealand High Commission. | New Zealand High Commission, Nuku'alofa, Tonga