Inflation could put more Canadians at risk of going hungry, say experts

© Provided by The Canadian Press


TORONTO — Experts and advocates anticipate that more Canadians could be at risk of going hungry as inflation continues to outpace many consumers' grocery budgets.

Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutritional sciences at University of Toronto, says steepening inflation rates are likely to increase the prevalence and severity of food insecurity in Canada.

Statistics Canada says consumers paid 9.7 per cent more for food at stores in April compared with a year ago, the largest increase since September 1981.

The 2020 Canadian Income Survey found that 11.2 per cent of Canadians lived in households that had experienced moderate and severe food insecurity, and Tarasuk says only a fraction of that population uses food charities.

Canadians feeling the pinch as inflation rate soars to new 31-year high

But a couple of food banks say that soaring food prices has accelerated surging demand for their services during the COVID-19 crisis.

The CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank says the charity saw 160,000 client visits in March, up from 60,000 visits in 2019. Neil Hetherington projects that number will increase to 225,000 visits per month by this time next year.

In the first three months of 2022, the Calgary Food Bank logged a 29 per cent year-over-year increase in demand for its food hampers, said communications co-ordinator Betty Jo Kaiser.

Last month, the organization distributed food support to nearly 9,500 people, 75 per cent of whom were first-time clients, said Kaiser.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Pacific Western Transit, union restart negotiations to end to Sea-to-Sky strike

Pacific Western Transit has agreed to meet with a mediator again in an attempt to negotiate an end to the 15-week job action at its Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton locations.

© Global NewsPassengers board a BC Transit bus in Whistler in this undated file photo.

Representatives from Whistler Transit and Diversified Transportation met with Minister of Labour Harry Bains, and agreed to the arrangement.

"We are optimistic that this meeting will result in a fair and reasonable deal, returning our employees to work and restoring essential transit services to the Sea-to-Sky communities," said PW in an emailed statement.

Read more:
Mediation fails in bitter 103-day Sea-to-Sky transit strike

The mediation will resume next Friday with representatives from the company and the employee's union.

“Mediation in the context of free collective bargaining is how this dispute is going to be solved,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director.

“We’re eager to get back to the bargaining table and find a resolution as soon as possible.”

Three biggest federal public sector unions challenge Liberal government's 'punitive' vaccine mandate for bureaucrats

Christopher Nardi - 

POSTMEDIA

As of March 29, 1,828 federal employees were on unpaid leave due to the vaccination policy, according to numbers shared by Treasury Board Secretariat with unions in April.

OTTAWA – The three biggest federal public sector unions are challenging the Liberal’s vaccine mandate for bureaucrats in court, arguing suspending unvaccinated workers without pay instead of letting them work from home is “punitive” and “unjustified.”

“We continue to support vaccination. But given … the loosening of the COVID restrictions and the shifting landscape, we’re of the opinion that employer’s policy right now is unreasonable. These members can work from home,” Jennifer Carr, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), said in an interview.

“Effectively, we think it is punitive and an abuse of management authority.”

Within the last week, the National Post has learned that both PIPSC and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), which represent nearly 60,000 and 21,000 public servants respectively, have filed policy grievances against the federal government’s vaccine mandate for bureaucrats.

Their challenges are in addition to the first grievances filed in late March by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the biggest federal government union.

At issue: the Trudeau government’s federal COVID-19 vaccine policy put in place on Oct. 6, 2021, which forced all bureaucrats to either get vaccinated with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or be suspended without pay (except those who obtained exemptions to the policy).

The unions say that working from home has become readily available for so many public servants that it’s time to let the unvaccinated employees who can work outside the office effectively do so.

Thousands on unpaid leave as Liberals late updating public service vaccine mandate

As of March 29, 1,828 employees were on unpaid leave due to the vaccination policy, according to numbers shared by Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) with unions in April.

“As the pandemic has evolved and the science has developed, we believe continuing to put unvaccinated employees on leave without pay is a harsh administrative measure that can be considered disciplinary and without just cause,” PSAC said when it announced its grievances.

They’re also frustrated that the government has yet to complete a review of the policy once since it was implemented, despite its own requirements.

A copy of TBS’ vaccine policy online says the government’s chief human resources officer is responsible for reviewing both the need of the policy and its contents “at a minimum every 6 months” and reporting those results to the minister.

Since the policy kicked in on Oct. 6, 2021, that means the first review was due by April 6.

But union heads say that date came and went without a peep from TBS, and the latest update meeting between them and government officials on Tuesday didn’t provide any new insight into when the review will be made public.

“Not only have they failed not to give us a position, they failed to let us know when they’re going to come up with a position,” Carr said. “We had a call (Tuesday), and they still can’t give us a tentative date.”

“At this point, it seems like it’s in a black hole,” she added. “That leaves a lot of public servants in limbo.”

TBS spokesperson Alain Belle-Isle said in a statement that the review is currently underway “in line with the requirement” and the results will be presented “in due course.”

“There is no obligation to update the policy every 6 months,” he said, adding that roughly 99 per cent of employees attested to being fully vaccinated.

“We are taking the time required to conduct a detailed review, which considers the evolving public health context, the latest science, and the advice of public health official,” his statement continues.

But now, the unions are asking the federal labour relations tribunal via their policy grievances to force the government to allow unvaccinated employees currently suspended without pay to be accommodated by allowing them to work from home.

They’re also asking that the government be compelled to reimburse all the bureaucrats still affected by the vaccine mandate for lost wages since April 6 (the date they say the policy needed to be reviewed).

For CAPE President Greg Phillips, working from home has become such an established practice amongst his members that the government’s vaccine policy is akin to asking someone who works in construction to wear a hard hat even if they’re working from home.

“My members are basically all office workers. For the past two years, only a statistically insignificant number of people have actually had to go into the office,” he said, adding that barely 100 of his 21,000 federal public service members are currently suspended due to the vaccine

“What we’re saying is that if you have to go into the office, you should be vaccinated, as much as if you’re going into a construction zone, you have to wear steel toed shoes.”

Carr says that the situation today is very different from two years ago, and vaccines are not the only tool the public service has to keep its employees safe from COVID-19 going forward.

“They have to look at other health and safety measures that are appropriate. Again, working from home is one of those, as well as keeping people out of contact, but also ventilation rates and spacing and masking if applicable,” she said.

Smiley and discreet: The sociologist marrying Brazil's Lula

AFP / May 19, 2022,

Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva marries 

sociologist Rosangela Silva, in Sao Paulo.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Rosangela da Silva is a smiley, politically active member of Brazil's Workers' Party, but the new wife of presidential hopeful Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remains discreet when it comes to her private life.

Sociologist Da Silva and Lula, Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010, were due to be married in a ceremony on Wednesday evening, the details of which were kept top-secret.
Pictures of the couple kissing and cuddling regularly go viral on social media but Da Silva will be brought into a new limelight if veteran socialist Lula returns to the presidency in elections later this year and makes her Brazil's first lady.

"I'm in love as if I were 20 years old, as if it were my first girlfriend," said Lula, 76, about his 55-year-old partner, nicknamed "Janja," who is credited with giving the political icon a new lease on life.

Lula was left distraught when his wife of more than 30 years, with whom he had four children, Marisa Leticia, died in 2017.

He had also lost his first wife, Maria de Lourdes, to hepatitis, in 1971.

"When you lose your wife, you think, well, my life has no more meaning. Then suddenly this person appears who makes you feel like you want to live again," Lula said in a recent interview with Time magazine.

"We will get married calmly and I will have a happy campaign," said the former metal worker and trade unionist who is set for a fiery election battle against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October.

Born in Sao Paulo, Da Silva has a degree in sociology from Parana University in the southern city of Curitiba, where Lula was jailed between April 2018 and November 2019 on controversial corruption charges.

She joined the Workers' Party (PT) in 1983, two years after it was co-founded by Lula. She then worked for almost 20 years in the state energy company Itaipu Binacional.

Brazilian media say the couple have known each other for decades but Lula's press service insists their amorous relationship began only at the end of 2017, during an event with left-wing artists.

The relationship was only made public in May 2019, more than a year after Lula was incarcerated.
"Lula is in love and the first thing he will want to do when he leaves prison is get married," one of his lawyers said following a prison visit.

Even so, it has taken him two and a half years since his liberation to tie the knot, at a private ceremony for 200 guests in Sao Paulo that is shrouded in secrecy.

During Lula's incarceration, Da Silva would often tweet about the pain of their forced separation.
"All I want is to be able to wrap my arms around you and cuddle you forever," she wrote on the day Lula turned 74.

In November 2019, just after his liberation, they shared a kiss in front of masses of supporters outside the prison in Curitiba that had been his home for 18 months.

"I want to introduce you to someone I have already spoken about but whom some of you don't know: my future spouse," said an emotional Lula.

Since Lula's corruption conviction was annulled by the Supreme Court and he was again eligible to stand for election, Da Silva has accompanied him on his many trips, including to Mexico and Europe.
Lula has suggested that, as first lady, Da Silva could play a role in food security programs, in a country where the Covid-19 pandemic has led to increased hunger.

Although highly active on social media for the Lula campaign, Da Silva is very discreet when it comes to her personal life, of which little is known.

According to Veja magazine, she was married for more than 10 years before her relationship with Lula, although she does not have any children.

Da Silva "is very politicized, she has a good political mind and is very feminist," Lula said in September, during an interview with rapper Mano Brown's podcast.

Moth last seen 110 years ago found at Detroit airport


A species of moth, last seen in 1912, was discovered inside a passenger's bag at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

May 18 (UPI) -- A species of moth, not seen since 1912, was found inside a passenger's luggage at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection found larvae and pupae from the moth last September inside a bag arriving from the Philippines.

Customs and Border Protection said Monday the passenger claimed the seeds were for medicinal tea. Upon closer inspection, agriculture specialists discovered exit holes in the pods and confiscated them.

While in quarantine, the pupae hatched to reveal what etymologists called "very flashy" moths with raised patches of black bristles, indicating the moths are members of the Pyralidae family.

A Smithsonian Institution expert later identified the moth as "Salma brachyscopalis Hampson" and determined the moth was last seen more than a century ago, according to Kris Grogan, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection.

The Smithsonian etymologist also confirmed it was the first time larvae or pupae associated with this species of moth had been collected.

The moths found at the airport were "disposed of via steam sterilization," said Grogan.

"Agriculture specialists play a vital role at our nation's ports of entry by preventing the introduction of harmful exotic plant pests and foreign animal diseases into the United States," said Port Director Robert Larkin. "This discovery is a testament to their important mission of identifying foreign pests and protecting America's natural resources."

New NOAA study finds increase in Atlantic hurricanes linked to cleaner air

By Allison Finch, Accuweather.com

Researchers examined how particulate air pollution, or aerosols, and climate change have affected tropical cyclones across the planet over the past 40 years in a new study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that was recently published in the journal Science Advances, and the results are surprising.

"Air pollution is a big environmental risk to human health, and we have made great strides in reducing health risks by reducing particulate air pollution," said Hiroyuki Murakami, a physical scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and study author. "But reducing air pollution does not always decrease the risk of hazards from tropical cyclones."

Dr. Boris Quennehen, Lead Atmospheric Scientist at Plume Labs, a company acquired by AccuWeather earlier this year, said particulate matter (PM), also known as aerosols, is a mix of fine dust and tiny liquid droplets.

"Particulate matter can come from natural sources, like fine sand, wildfires, volcanic eruptions and sea salt for example, or from human activities, usually involving some kind of incomplete combustion -- a fire or explosion," said Quennehen

RELATED 116-year-old 'ghost tracks' unearthed following pesky coastal storm

From 1980 to 2020, Europe and North America have reduced particulate air pollution from automotive, and energy industries. This has resulted in an estimated 50 drop in the concentration of particulate air pollution from North America and Europe, which, as noted by the study from NOAA, has had a significant impact on water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean basin and the development of tropical cyclones.

"Particulate matter and water temperatures are linked, in this case, by the 'parasol effect.' The PM parasol effect means that a part of the sunlight is reflected [or] trapped by particles and thus can't reach the surface as it would have if particles weren't there," said Quennehen, who was not involved in the new study. "Less sunlight reaching the surface means less energy and thus lower temperature. Less particulate matter means less reflection, thus warmer waters."

Warm water temperatures above 80 degrees F are one of the key ingredients in the formation of a tropical cyclone. So, thanks in part to the aforementioned parasol effect, water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean basin are warming, which is creating ideal breeding grounds for tropical development.

"A warming Atlantic Ocean has been a key ingredient to a 33 percent increase in the number of tropical cyclones during this 40-year period," said Murakami.

Moreover, there has been an increase in temperature in the middle to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere from the decreased amount of pollution, according to the study. This has resulted in a steady poleward movement of the jet stream from the tropics toward the Arctic, which has led to weaker winds in the upper troposphere in the tropical Atlantic Ocean basin.

While the troposphere is the lowest region of the atmosphere, wind speeds gradually strengthen and sometimes change direction from the lower troposphere, which is closest to the surface of the Earth, to the upper troposphere, which is about 10-12 miles from the surface of the Earth in the tropical Atlantic basin. This difference between wind speed and direction and height is defined as wind shear.

The weaker winds in the upper troposphere led to an environment with little to no wind shear, which is another key ingredient in tropical cyclone development.

Low wind shear and warm ocean waters are two of the three main ingredients needed to form and sustain a tropical cyclone, and the decreased air pollution from North America and Europe over the past 40 years has led to an environment in which these ingredients can flourish, the study said.

On the other side of the world, in the western North Pacific, where strong tropical cyclones are referred to as typhoons, quite the opposite is occurring. According to this new research, the increase in air pollution in the western North Pacific has been one of the several factors that has contributed to a 14 percent decrease in tropical cyclones during the past 40 years. Some of the other factors include natural variability and increased greenhouse gasses.

Therefore, the opposite is occurring in the western North Pacific. As Quennehen described above, more air pollution that exists in the atmosphere reduces the amount of sunlight that will reach the surface, resulting in lower temperatures.

In East Asia, the increased amount of air pollution has made the land temperature cooler, which has reduced the contrast between the land and ocean temperatures. Without this contrast, the monsoon winds become weaker.

A monsoon is defined as the change in wind direction that can trigger persistent rainfall or long-duration dry weather. In the summer, the westerly Indian monsoon winds converge with trade winds in the western Pacific Ocean, creating tropical cyclones. However, with weaker monsoon winds, a lower number of tropical cyclones have formed over the last four decades, according to Murakami's research.

Over the 40-year period Murakami examined, there has been a 40 percent increase in the amount of pollution filling the air over the western North Pacific, which has corresponded to a 14 percent decrease in the formation of tropical cyclones, or typhoons as they're called in that part of the world.

Without considering other factors, it might seem as easy as adding more particles, or air pollution, to the atmosphere will help reduce the number of tropical cyclones, but such a concept is not practical, according to Quennehen.

"Adding more particles in the atmosphere is not a viable solution for the Earth and humankind," said Quennehen. "More particles means more heath impacts but also ocean acidification which may lead to the extinction of many marine species."

Murakami suggested that there will be a need for careful policymaking in the future.

"This study indicates that decreasing air pollution leads to an increased risk of tropical cyclones, which is happening in the North Atlantic, and could also happen, if air pollution is rapidly reduced, in Asia," said Murakami. "The ironic result suggests the necessity of careful policy decision-making in the future that considers the pros and cons of the multiple impacts."

Murakami predicts in the next decade, increased greenhouse gases will significantly influence tropical cyclones compared to human-caused particulate air pollution.

2 senators reach deal on help for veterans exposed to toxic burning pits


Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., right, and Sen, Jon Tester, D-Mont., listen during a confirmation hearing on January 27, 2021. The senators announced a deal Wednesday to help veterans who were exposed to toxic dump pits while on service. 

File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo

May 18 (UPI) -- Congress moved closer to addressing concerns over the exposure of military members to toxic burning pits after leaders on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee announced Wednesday a bipartisan deal to help them.

Committee members Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced in a joint statement the legislation would expand the VA healthcare eligibility to post-9/11 combat veterans.

The bill is named after the late Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who died in 2020 after being exposed to toxic pits during his military service while deployed to Kosovo and Iraq with the Ohio National Guard.

"This bipartisan legislation is the most comprehensive toxic exposure package the Senate has ever delivered to veterans in this country's history," the senators said. "For far too long, our nation's veterans have been living with chronic illnesses as a result of exposures during their time in uniform.

"Today, we're taking necessary steps to right this wrong with our proposal that'll provide veterans and their families with the healthcare and benefits they have earned and deserve."

Along with the expansion of VA healthcare to 3.5 million eligible veterans, it also creates a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure; adds 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to VA's list of service presumptions, including hypertension; and expands presumptions related to Agent Orange exposure.

"In addition to providing historic relief to all generations of toxic-exposed veterans, this legislation will improve claims processing to meet the immediate and future needs of every veteran it serves," the senators said.

"Together, we will continue working until Congress delivers on its commitment to passing long-lasting solutions and comprehensive reforms for those who served our country."

Veterans were regularly exposed to open-air burn pits at U.S. military bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where dangerous materials ranging from electronics and vehicles to human waste were regularly doused in jet fuel and set on fire.

President Joe Biden, who backs the new legislation, has said he believes his late son Beau Biden's brain cancer was linked to his exposure to burn pits while deployed in Iraq in 2008.

Women wait longer for hospital emergency room care than men, study finds

Women experience longer wait times than men in U.S. hospital emergency rooms, according to a new study. 

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo


May 18 (UPI) -- Women wait longer for care than men in hospital emergency rooms, a study published Wednesday found.

On average, women patients coming into the emergency room wait 12 minutes longer to be evaluated and treated, data published Wednesday by JAMA Surgery showed.

Men wait an average of 2 hours, 52 minutes for care, while women wait an average of 3 hours, 4 minutes, the researchers said.

Women also have to wait about three minutes longer than men to be "triaged," or evaluated and prioritized for care in the ER. On average, they wait 52 minutes to be triaged, compared to 49 minutes for men, the data showed.

The "results of this ... study suggest that female patients were found to have a significantly longer [ER] lengths of stay after a traumatic event," the researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago wrote.

In addition, they "were less likely to be discharged home or to a home equivalent than male patients," they said.

Previous studies have found that women of all races and ethnicities, as well as people of color, have longer wait times than White men in hospital ERs when seeking treatment for chest pain.

These longer wait times could increase the risk for death among those affected, depending on the nature of their health emergency, research suggests.

Researchers have attributed these longer wait times to bias among healthcare workers, and say they perpetuate inequities in treatment quality.

The findings of this study are based on an analysis of data for more than 28,000 U.S. adults treated for serious injuries such as broken bones and/or head trauma in hospital ERs over a three-year period.

Just under 30% of the patients included in the study were women, though the women patients generally had more serious injuries than the men, the data showed.

Once treated in the ER, women were 28% more likely than men to be discharged to a nursing home or long-term care facility, as opposed to home, compared with men, the researchers said.

"These findings suggest potential gaps of care that may be excellent targets for quality improvement of existing processes of assessment and triage and discharge planning," they wrote.

Study: HPV 'herd immunity' now helping vaccinated, unvaccinated women

By HealthDay News

Vaccination against HPV has reached a point of "herd immunity" that is benefiting both vaccinated and unvaccinated women, a new study says. File Photo by Photographee.eu/Shutterstock
Vaccination against the virus that causes most cervical cancers has spurred a widespread reduction of infections among young Americans -- including those who are unvaccinated, a new government study finds.

The study, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at the impact of the nation's HPV vaccination program, which began in 2006.

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection that can cause genital warts. While that disease is usually minor, certain HPV infections can become persistent and eventually cause cancer.

In the United States, almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by persistent infection with certain HPV strains those strains can also cause cancers of the vagina, penis, anus or throat.

RELATED One dose of HPV vaccine may prevent cervical cancer

So the HPV vaccine, which protects against major cancer-causing strains, is considered an anti-cancer vaccine.

The new study found that by 2018, the vaccine had cut the prevalence of cancer-causing HPV strains by 90% among vaccinated females between 14 and 24 years of age. There was also a 74% reduction among their unvaccinated counterparts -- pointing to a "herd" effect.

That refers to protection afforded to the whole population when there is a sharp reduction in circulation of a virus.

RELATED Prevalence of STDs among U.S. teens underscores importance of testing

"The decline among unvaccinated females suggests strong herd effects, or indirect protection, from the vaccination program," lead researcher Dr. Hannah Rosenblum said in a journal news release.

Experts stressed, however, that does not mean kids can go unvaccinated and rely on herd protection.

Herd effects only exist when a large portion of the population is vaccinated, said Dr. Rebecca Perkins, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine.

RELATED Many teens don't realize oral sex carries STD risks, poll finds

Instead, she said, the findings offer more reason for parents to get their kids vaccinated against HPV on schedule.

"All of the news on the HPV vaccine is good," said Perkins, who co-wrote an editorial published with the study this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. "It's one of the best things you can do for your child's health."

Other research, she noted, has shown early signs that the protection against HPV is translating into a "near elimination" of cervical cancer before the age of 30.

Since 2006, the CDC and other groups have recommended that all girls receive the HPV vaccine, starting at age 11, and that older girls and young women up to age 26 receive "catch-up" shots if they missed the earlier window. The advice was later extended to boys and young men.

These latest findings come from a periodic federal health survey, with data from the pre-vaccine (2003 to 2006) and post-vaccine (2007 to 2018) eras.

By 2018, the CDC found, the prevalence of HPV strains targeted by the vaccine had been slashed 90% among girls and women aged 14 to 24, compared to the pre-vaccine era.

There was also a sharp drop among young females who remained unvaccinated: Between 2015 and 2018, just under 5% tested positive for an HPV strain included in the vaccine, compared to 20% in the pre-vaccine era.

While catch-up shots are an option, vaccinating preteens -- before they become sexually active and exposed to HPV -- is key to making the vaccine program as effective as possible, said Dr. Ina Park.

Park, who was not involved in the study, is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and an adviser to the American Sexual Health Association.

She agreed that the signs of herd protection are welcome, but should not be misinterpreted.

"We can't let our guard down," Park said. "We still need to get as many preteens vaccinated as possible."

Before the pandemic, HPV vaccination rates in the United States had been improving. In 2020, 75% of teenagers younger than 18 had gotten at least one dose of the two- to three-shot regimen, according to the CDC.

But that rate still falls short of those for other preteen vaccinations, Park said. Plus, the pandemic has caused many kids to fall behind on vaccinations of all kinds, including the HPV shot.

Rosenblum stressed that "since this could threaten strides made in the previous decade, all efforts are needed to ensure that children and adolescents receive routinely recommended vaccinations."

Both Park and Perkins said that the HPV vaccine not only provides lasting protection against infections, but has proven to be safe: More than 270 million doses have been given worldwide, according to the American Cancer Society, and the vaccine has not been linked to any serious side effects.

"I really feel this vaccine is a home run for cancer prevention," Park said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information for parents on HPV vaccination.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Largest volcano eruption in 140 years sent exceptional pressure waves around Earth

Shari Kulha - 

MAY 18, 2022

© Provided by National PostA boat at sea had this view of the smoke rising from the eruption. The Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island since it roared to life in December, spewing huge volumes of rock and dense ash that killed nearby vegetation.

Rumblings began on Dec. 18, 2021 under the small South Pacific islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai in the Kingdom of Tonga, and continued for several weeks. On Jan. 15, an underwater volcano exploded upwards with a force not seen since 1883 and at 10 times the magnitude of Mount St. Helens.

An umbrella cloud developed at approximately 30 km above sea level, with a much higher central transient “overshoot.”

The two Hunga islands had been formed by ancient eruptions, and after one in 2015, ash and magma settled to fill the space between the two. But after January’s violent explosion, the newer central part submerged, leaving the uninhabited Hunga Ha’apai and Hunga Tonga separate again.

The main island of Tonga was devastated by the ensuing tsunami.

None of the above is atypical of a large volcanic event, but thanks to advances over the decades, ground-based and space-borne instruments allowed researchers to observe in greater detail an eruption’s unseen results.

Lamb waves are pressure waves of atmospheric fluid that result from volcanic eruptions and nuclear tests, and can last from minutes to several hours. With January’s eruption, scientists observed that these seismoacoustic waves circled the planet in one direction four times and back again three times — mirroring that of Indonesia’s 1883 Krakatau eruption. Equally strikingly, a wave also travelled at between roughly 550 kps and 1,600 kps to an altitude of about 450 km.

“This atmospheric-waves event was unprecedented in the modern geophysical record,” lead author Robin Matoza, an associate professor at University of California Santa Barbara’s department of Earth Science, said in a release .

Matoza led a team of 76 scientists from 17 countries to study the atmospheric waves .


© NOAAThe Hunga eruption seen from the GOES-17 satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nine hours after the explosion, booms were heard as far off as Alaska — 10,000 kilometres away — compelling some to believe there was a link to the eruption. But the scientists believe those booms could not have originated in Hunga. “I heard the sounds,” said co-author David Fee at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute in the release, “but at the time definitely did not think it was from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific.”


Robin Matoza

“While there’s still much to learn, it’s clear that standard sound models cannot explain how audible sounds propagated over such extreme distances. We interpreted that they were generated somewhere along the path by nonlinear effects,” Matoza said.

“We have more than a century of advances in instrumentation technology and global sensor density,” he said. “So the 2022 Hunga event provided an unparalleled global dataset for an explosion event of this size.”

‘Catastrophic damage’ to Tonga’s outlying islands from volcanic eruption and tsunami

Undersea volcano erupts off Tonga, tsunami warning issued

“The atmospheric waves were recorded globally across a wide frequency band, and by studying this remarkable dataset we will better understand acoustic and atmospheric wave generation, propagation and recording,” Fee said.

“This has implications for monitoring nuclear explosions, volcanoes, earthquakes and a variety of other phenomena,” he continued. “Our hope is that we will be better able to monitor volcanic eruptions and tsunamis by understanding the atmospheric waves from this eruption.”