Water blasted by Tonga underwater volcano could weaken the ozone layer, scientists warn

Tonga’s volcanic eruption in January blasted enough water to fill more than 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools – and could weaken the ozone layer.

Scientists who examined the amount of water vapour ejected by the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano described it as ‘unprecedented’.

The powerful steam was formed when seawater in the South Pacific came into contact with the lava and was ‘superheated’. 

The eruption created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away, in a sonic boom that circled the globe twice. 

In a new study, experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predict the volume of water could be enough to temporarily affect the global average temperature.

It could also temporarily boost chemical reactions in the atmosphere that worsen the depletion of the ozone…