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Jan 17, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
The highest concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the world right now is over the Pacific 📈

This is associated with the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano 🌋

🧵 on what this means...
Some of the SO2 has been wrapped into Cyclone Cody, east of New Zealand 🌀

This is happening in the troposphere, the part of the atmosphere where we live.

Here, the emissions from volcanic eruptions are typically washed away quickly.
What matters to global climate 👉 how much SO2 has reached the stratosphere?

There, SO2 is converted to sulfuric acid droplets over a few weeks.

These aerosols can have a long-lasting radiative effect around the globe, reflecting incoming sunlight & lowering temperatures.
Early indications do not show extreme levels of SO2 in the stratosphere.

This means that the event appears unlikely to have a significant cooling effect on temperatures globally.

However, it's still early and more measurements are being taken + more eruptions are possible.
SO2 is a toxic, invisible pollutant.

In Tonga, possible short-term hazards to human health include acid rain & 'volcanic smog'.

While large & locally devastating for Tonga, the eruption looks unlikely to change the direction of the global temperature trend.

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More from @NiwaWeather

Jan 27, 2023
We keep getting asked if this is Aotearoa/New Zealand's "worst summer ever", from a climate perspective, of course.

There's no easy way of answering that question, but we've scoured the record books & are pleased to bring you these eye-opening stats...

🧵 a tale of two islands
Whangārei has recorded 24 days of rain this summer, which makes it the most persistently rainy summer (so far) in over three decades.
Whitianga has had 26 days of rain so far this summer - it has rained nearly every other day!

In summer 2019-20, there were just 6 days of rain during Dec-Jan.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 10, 2023
It's official, 2022 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s warmest year on record, again 🤒

Mother Nature is running a fever & it's not getting better.

niwa.co.nz/climate/summar…

🧵 on the 22 things you should know about 2022, through the eyes of @niwa_nz's climate scientists
The year 2022 finished with an average temperature of 13.76°C in New Zealand.

This was 1.15°C above average & surpassed 2021 to become the country's new warmest year on record.

New Zealand's annual average temperature has increased by about 1.1°C over the past century 📈
New Zealand's top-4 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2016, a trend that is consistent with climate change.

On this climate stripes plot, inspired by @ed_hawkins, warmer than average years are coloured red (🔴) & cooler than average years are coloured blue (🔵).
Read 22 tweets
Feb 11, 2022
A cyclone thread 🧵

Satellite photo from earlier today shows double trouble.

TC Dovi & its discernable eye at the top.

Well ahead of #CycloneDovi is a plume of tropical moisture.

Collectively, this will result in high chances for:

🌧️ heavy rain
🌬️ strong wind
🌊 large waves
As for rain…

These maps show the daily odds of receiving heavy rain.

Red (🔴) is where our modelling predicts a high chance of more than 50 mm of rain.

Some locations will see more than a month's worth of rain in just a few days. This obviously raises flooding concerns.
Here's a different way of looking at the rainfall forecast.

The pink & purple is where the heaviest rain is predicted; mainly western & lower parts of the North Island.

Impacts include:

-Slips
-Flooding
-Washed out roads

Need to watch eastern top of the South Island, too.
Read 6 tweets
Jan 10, 2022
It's official, 2021 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s warmest year on record 🌡️

The trend is not our friend — it's our foe.

niwa.co.nz/climate/summar…

🧵 on the 21 things you should know about 2021, through the eyes of @niwa_nz's climate scientists
@niwa_nz The year 2021 finished with an average temperature of 13.56°C in New Zealand.

This was 0.95°C above average and surpassed 2016 to become the country's new warmest year on record.

New Zealand's average annual temperature has increased by about 1°C over the past 100 years 📈
@niwa_nz The recipe for New Zealand's warmest year on record in 2021? 🧑‍🍳 ♨️

You guessed it: climate change.

Other factors:

• La Niña

• Northerly winds

• Marine heatwave

• High pressure
Read 21 tweets

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