The Impact of the Tonga Eruption on the Earth

On this week’s show: A boost in research ships from an unlikely source, and how the 2022 Tonga eruption shook earth, water, and air around the world

For decades, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society caused controversy on the high seas; now it’s turning its patrolling ships into research vessels. Online News Editor David Grimm discusses how this change of heart came about with host Sarah Crespi.

Also this week, how atmospheric waves can push tsunamis around the globe. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Emily Brodsky, an earthquake physicist at University of California, Santa Cruz, about data from a multitude of sensors showing how waves in the air drove the fast-moving tsunamis that raced around the planet after the January Hunga eruption in Tonga.

Read the related papers:

• Global fast-traveling tsunamis driven by atmospheric Lamb waves on the 2022 Tonga eruption
• Atmospheric waves and global seismoacoustic observations of the January 2022 Hunga eruption, Tonga

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

[Image: NASA Earth Observatory; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai eruption as seen from space with podcast overlay]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; David Grimm

Episode page: https://www.science.org/content/podcast/former-pirates-help-study-seas-and-waves-atmosphere-can-drive-global-tsunamis

About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast 

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