Overview
- A peer‑reviewed study in Nature Communications reports that the 2022 Hunga Tonga plume removed methane, using Sentinel‑5P TROPOMI data corrected for plume height and sulfur dioxide interference.
- Satellites detected record formaldehyde in the volcanic cloud and tracked it for 10 days to South America, showing that methane was being broken down continuously.
- Researchers say seawater and ash formed iron‑salt aerosols that, under sunlight, produced reactive chlorine atoms that oxidized methane.
- The team estimates the eruption released about 300 gigagrams of methane, while the plume chemistry removed roughly 900 megagrams per day.
- The findings indicate methane loss can be verified from space and suggest the global methane budget should include dust‑driven chemistry, with any engineered replication requiring strict safety proof.