Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 7, 2021

Striking bull's-eye-shaped clouds form above erupting La Palma volcano

New satellite images have revealed a stunning pattern of concentric cloud rings, resembling a bull's-eye, that was formed by the continued eruption of the volcano on La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands. The La Cumbre Vieja volcano, meaning The Old Summit in Spanish, has been erupting since Sept. 19 for...

Oct 20, 2021

World's biggest underwater eruption birthed skyscraper-size volcano

In 2018, the largest active underwater eruption ever recorded birthed a giant baby: a skyscraper-size underwater volcano, a new study finds. Scientists discovered the 2,690-foot-tall (820 meters) volcano in the western Indian Ocean, off Madagascar, following a puzzling spate of earthquakes that struck near what is normally a seismically quiet...

Dec 29, 2021

10 times volcanoes blew our minds in 2021

Volcanoes are one of the most extreme examples of Earth's raw power, eliciting fear and wonder at the same time. Every year, we are surprised by the ferocity, uniqueness and unpredictability of volcanoes, and 2021 was no different. Here are 10 times volcanoes blew our minds in 2021. Stunning Etna...

Jan 16, 2022

Huge Tonga underwater volcano eruption captured in stunning satellite video

A powerful underwater volcano eruption in Tonga on Saturday (Jan. 15) was captured as it happened in stunning images from an Earth-watching satellite, showing the sheer power for the explosive event in the South Pacific. The volcano eruption on the island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai is visible as a spectacular...

Jan 18, 2022

Dramatic photos show horrific aftermath of massive Tonga eruption and tsunami

New aerial photos show a blanket of dust and ash covering the Pacific nation of Tonga following a massive underwater volcanic eruption. On Saturday (Jan. 15), the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of Tonga's Fonuafo'ou island, erupted in what may have been the largest eruption on the...

Jan 19, 2022

Ash from Tonga volcano eruption reaches record altitude but climate cooling unlikely

The volcanic eruption that destroyed a small island in Polynesia on Saturday (Jan. 15) injected a huge amount of ash into a record altitude but won't cause any disruption to Earth's climate, experts said. Satellites detected the ash cloud, which has already spread over Australia, at over 24 miles (39...

Jan 25, 2022

Tonga eruption equivalent to 'hundreds of Hiroshima bombs,' NASA says

The volcanic eruption in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga peaked on Jan. 15 with more explosive force than 100 simultaneous Hiroshima bombs, NASA scientists reported on Monday (Jan 24). Using a combination of satellite and surface-based surveys, researchers calculated the explosive power of the volcano based on the amount...

Feb 23, 2022

Tonga underwater volcano eruption shattered two records

An underwater volcano in the South Pacific erupted last month and shattered two records simultaneously: The volcanic plume reached greater heights than any eruption ever captured in the satellite record, and the eruption generated an unparalleled number of lightning strikes — almost 590,000 over the course of three days, Reuters...

Mar 3, 2022

Volcano facts and types of volcanoes

A volcano on Earth is a vent or fissure in the planet's crust through which lava, ash, rock and gases erupt. A volcano is also a mountain formed by the accumulation of these eruptive products. Volcanoes have existed for a long time on Earth, likely causing disasters such as the...

May 16, 2022

Record-shattering Tonga volcanic eruption sent atmospheric waves zipping around the Earth

An underwater volcano erupted in January near the Pacific nation of Tonga and sent massive pressure waves racing through Earth's atmosphere, where they lapped the planet several times. The last volcano to generate such large ripples in the atmosphere was Krakatau in 1883, during one of the most destructive volcanic...

Jun 30, 2022

Record-breaking Tonga volcano generated the fastest atmospheric waves ever seen

The massive eruption from the underwater Tonga volcano in the Pacific earlier this year generated a blast so powerful, it sent massive pressure waves rippling through the atmosphere and around the globe. These waves were the fastest ever observed within our atmosphere, reaching speeds of 720 miles (1,158 kilometers) per...

Jul 28, 2022

Where are most of Earth's volcanoes?

There are around 1,350 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, and just over one-third of them are known to have erupted at some point during recorded history. But where are most volcanoes located? If you wanted to see an active volcano, where would you...

Aug 1, 2022

Tonga's eruption injected so much water into Earth’s atmosphere that it could weaken the ozone layer

When an underwater volcano in Tonga erupted in January, it belched out more than ash and volcanic gases; it also spewed 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools' worth of water vapor into Earth's atmosphere, a new study finds. This water vapor could end up being the most destructive part of the volcano's...

Sep 29, 2022

Massive ancient lava flow seen from space looks like a giant black scar on the New Mexico desert

An astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS) has snapped a stunning photo of an ancient lava flow stretching across the desert in New Mexico. From above, the frozen river of volcanic rock looks like a dark scar carved into the surrounding desert. The basaltic lava flow, known as...

Jan 16, 2023

Never-before-seen volcanic magma chamber discovered deep under Mediterranean, near Santorini

A submarine volcano whose deadly eruption shattered the picturesque Greek island of Santorini nearly 400 years ago has a growing, never-before-seen magma chamber that could fuel another massive eruption within the next 150 years, a new study finds. About 4 miles (7 kilometers) from Santorini, 1,640 feet (500 meters) under...