Researchers studying the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption discovered that volcanic ash and salty water vapor created a chemical reaction that destroyed methane in the stratosphere. This process, which produced formaldehyde as a byproduct, suggests a natural mechanism for removing potent greenhouse gases from the air. While the findings offer a theoretical blueprint for geoengineering or industrial methane removal, scientists warn that replicating this in the troposphere could have unintended environmental consequences. Further atmospheric modeling is required to determine if this method can be safely scaled to combat global warming.
