Depletion of the ozone layer. It is not the work of man

According to specialists, last year's volcanic eruption in the central Pacific led to significant damage to our planet's ozone layer. This was discovered by experts studying this eruption, which turns out to be one of the most powerful in known history.

The eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai occurred on January 15, 2022. As a result, a column of dust rose into the air, measuring approximately 34 miles, and about 150 million tons of steam entered the atmosphere. Scientists from the Universities of Indiana and Sheffield calculated that the energy of this eruption was equivalent to the explosion of 61 megatons of TNT (for comparison, the detonation of the famous Car-bomb according to American sources could release energy up to 58 megatons of TNT).

It was the launch into the atmosphere of vast masses of saltwater vapor that caused our planet's ozone layer to be compromised. Oceanic water, reacting with volatile chemical substances present in the atmosphere, ultimately results in the breakdown of O3 particles. Just 5 days after the explosion, researchers sent meteorological balloons equipped with sensors into the atmosphere around Hunga Tonga. The ozone level in the atmosphere there was even 30 percent lower than standard.

A large loss of ozone was expected above the eruption site, but other meteorological balloons floating over the Pacific and Indian Oceans provided surprising data. It seems that as a result of this powerful eruption, the Earth's ozone layer as a whole has depleted by about 5 percent.

We have just managed to reduce the ozone hole created by our own actions, and yet the climate is playing tricks on us. However, it should be clearly emphasized that scientists are reassuring, because a 5% depletion of the ozone layer is not alarming. This deficiency should be corrected very quickly in a completely natural way.

Scientists note that slight decreases in ozone content in the atmosphere are quite frequently recorded during documented volcanic eruptions. The mechanism by which volcanic aerosol destroys O3 is still the subject of research by specialists in molecular chemistry.