Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 23 hours ago
A report released today by the World Climate Research Programme provides a comprehensive analysis of the atmospheric effects of the January 15, 2022 eruption of the Hunga volcano, the most explosive volcanic event of the satellite era.
Combining unprecedented satellite, balloon, and ground-based observations with global modeling studies, the report documents the eruption’s far-reaching effects on Earth’s stratosphere, climate system, and ozone layer. The report’s findings provide a crucial reference for understanding volcanic impacts on the atmosphere and climate system in a warming world, and for judging our ability to model these effects, according to the authors.
Work on the Hunga Volcanic Eruption Atmospheric Impacts Report began in late 2022 and brings together scientists from 21 countries. CIRES researcher Yunqian Zhu led the report with colleagues from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Leeds, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Lizzy Asher, Ewa Bednarz, and Alex Baron from CIRES also contributed to the report.
Read more about the report on the CIRES newsroom: https://cires.colorado.edu/news/international-report-chronicles-atmospheric-impacts-2022-hunga-volcanic-eruption
Transcript:
The 2022 Hunga eruption was a high-magnitude underwater eruption with a volcanic explosivity index of six.
The eruption was unique because it increased global stratospheric water vapor by about 10%, much of which remains in the atmosphere through 2025.
The Hunga eruption was unlike anything observed before. It taught us that water erupting from volcanoes can strongly affect stratospheric conditions and also how essential global cooperation is in understanding such rare events.
Video produced by Lauren Lipuma at CIRES.
A report released today by the World Climate Research Programme provides a comprehensive analysis of the atmospheric effects of the January 15, 2022 eruption of the Hunga volcano, the most explosive volcanic event of the satellite era.
Combining unprecedented satellite, balloon, and ground-based observations with global modeling studies, the report documents the eruption’s far-reaching effects on Earth’s stratosphere, climate system, and ozone layer. The report’s findings provide a crucial reference for understanding volcanic impacts on the atmosphere and climate system in a warming world, and for judging our ability to model these effects, according to the authors.
Work on the Hunga Volcanic Eruption Atmospheric Impacts Report began in late 2022 and brings together scientists from 21 countries. CIRES researcher Yunqian Zhu led the report with colleagues from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Leeds, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Lizzy Asher, Ewa Bednarz, and Alex Baron from CIRES also contributed to the report.
Read more about the report on the CIRES newsroom: https://cires.colorado.edu/news/international-report-chronicles-atmospheric-impacts-2022-hunga-volcanic-eruption
Transcript:
The 2022 Hunga eruption was a high-magnitude underwater eruption with a volcanic explosivity index of six.
The eruption was unique because it increased global stratospheric water vapor by about 10%, much of which remains in the atmosphere through 2025.
The Hunga eruption was unlike anything observed before. It taught us that water erupting from volcanoes can strongly affect stratospheric conditions and also how essential global cooperation is in understanding such rare events.
Video produced by Lauren Lipuma at CIRES.
