Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

A Massive Volcano Erupted, Then Something Strange Happened in the Sky

It turns out that what happened in its aftermath is almost more impressive than the wildly impressive explosion itself.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

It would be pretty amazing if, say, an oil spill cleaned itself up or if a car somehow removed carbon dioxide from the air while driving down the highway. Well, according to new research published in Nature Communications, a volcano may have done something like that.

When the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted in 2022, it blasted huge amounts of methane and debris into the atmosphere…and then partially destroyed that methane itself, almost as if it were embarrassed that it had made a mess and scrambled to clean it up while profusely apologizing.

The eruption itself was already historic. The underwater volcano in the South Pacific exploded with such incredible force that ash and gas shot about 40 miles into........

© Vice