To the as yet unnamed Island near Tonga, which emerged from the ocean a few days ago.
With regard to climate, it's actually a pretty big deal, not because the island emerged, but because it put an enormous amount of water into the stratosphere, where it is likely to (very slightly) increase global temperatures and reduce the level of ultraviolet protecting ozone:
A new island has sprung up in a patch of the southwest Pacific Ocean riddled with underwater volcanoes, according to NASA Earth Observatory.
It began with the eruption of an underwater volcano found in the Central Tonga Islands on September 10 – and within just eleven hours, a landmass emerged from the watery depths, created by oozing lava that had been cooled by the ocean waters and solidified.
Over the following days, lava continued to pour and the newly formed island grew. The island was 170 meters (558 feet) in diameter on September 16 and eventually swelled to 182 meters over the following two days.
By September 20, the island had grown to cover 24,000 square meters (6 acres) with an elevation of 10 meters (33 feet).
The heating effect, which will be rather short term is only about .05°C, but I am sure that some climatologists are getting a serious geek on about this.
1 comments :
Are the stars right? Can I come out and devour everyone now?
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