"...it cuts across the official narrative that the extreme weather of the past few months is all due to climate change"

Hunga Tonga Volcano Eruption 

[pic source: 'NEW VIDEOS of Hunga Tonga Volcano Eruption; Shockwaves, 

Ash & Lapilli' - YouTube] Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space 

Flight Center, said the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano on 

January 15, 2022 released "hundreds of times the equivalent mechanical energy of the 

Hiroshima nuclear explosion." The eruption near Tonga sent volcanic material surging as high

as 

40 kilometres into the atmosphere and generated tsunami waves up to 15 metres high.

"For months the country has felt as if it’s under a state of siege – not from a hostile foreign power, but from extreme weather. 

    "This week, the north of the country has been pummelled again by torrential rain, gale-force winds and high seas. RNZ reported this morning that more heavy rain warnings had been issued for the west coast of the North Island and the top of the South.

    "But please, whatever you do, don’t mention Hunga Tonga....

    "Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai is the underwater volcano that erupted near Tonga in January last year.... the most powerful eruption so far this century. 

    "According to NIWA, it was the biggest atmospheric explosion recorded in more than 100 years, measuring nearly 6 on the volcanic explosivity index – roughly equivalent to that of Krakatoa. The eruption created a volcanic plume that reached 58km into the mesosphere. 

    "An article in the scientific journal 'Earth and Environment' – one of many devoted to the event – noted that major volcanic eruptions are well-known drivers of climate change and said the magnitude of the Hunga Tonga explosion ranked it among the most remarkable climatic events in the modern observation era. Researchers calculated that it resulted in a 13% increase in global stratospheric water mass and a fivefold increase in stratospheric aerosol load – the highest in three decades. 

    "One study estimated the amount of water displaced as 58,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, or about 10 percent of the entire water content of the stratosphere... 'Earth and Environment' said the eruption had “potential long-lasting repercussions for stratospheric composition and climate.” 

    "Similarly, 'Atmosphere' magazine devoted a special issue to the eruption, calling it an epic event that would have a continuing effect on the climate, both locally (that probably includes us) and globally. 

It seems reasonable to conclude that an eruption of that scale might at the very least be a factor in the freakish weather patterns of the past few months.

    "Yet I can’t help suspecting that the eruption of Hunga Tonga is the climate event none of the New Zealand experts want to talk about, possibly because it cuts across the official narrative that the extreme weather of the past few months is all due to climate change."

~ Karl du Fresne, from his post 'Are we allowed to suggest that Hunga Tonga is the cause of the weather mayhem?' [hat tip KiwiWit]