Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

Science in Action

Science In Action

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The BBC brings you all the week's science news.

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Science In Action: Tonga eruption – how it happened

Magazines & Reviews

main-pic-CROP.jpg

20/01/2022 GMT

Tonga eruption – how it happened

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Tonga eruption – how it happened

Why a small volcanic eruption had a global impact

The effects of the Tonga eruption could be felt around the world, many heard the boom of a sonic shock, and tsunami waves travelled far and wide.  Volcanologist Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland in New Zealand is one of only a handful of people to have landed on the tiny islands above the volcano where the eruption took place. Those islands have now sunk beneath the waves but Shane tells us what he found when he went there and how his findings could inform what happens next.

Stephan Grilli from the School of Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island joins us from Toulon in France where he felt the effects of the shockwave and Tsunami. He says the force of the shockwave drove those waves worldwide. 

The oceans have continued to warm, producing continuous record temperature rises for several years now. That’s the finding of Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania and author of The New Climate Wars. He says warming occurred last year despite the presence of global weather patterns which would usually have a cooling effect.

The long-term effects of covid-19 on health are a cause of growing concern even though in many places the virus itself now appears to be taking on a milder form. Yale University neuroscientist Serena Spudich is particularly concerned with covid’s impact on the brain. She says while the SARS- CoV-2 virus might not be found in brain cells themselves there are neurological impacts. 


(Image: Tonga Geological Services/via Reuters)


Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Alex Mansfield

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Science In Action

Tonga eruption – how it happened

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service