The volcano, known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, shot millions of tons of water vapor high up into the atmosphere, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The researchers estimate the eruption, which dwarfed the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, raised the amount of water in the stratosphere - the second layer of the atmosphere, above the range where humans live and breathe - by around 5%.

The Tongan blast was much soggier: The eruption started under the ocean, so it shot up a plume with much more water than usual.

And since water vapor acts as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, the eruption will probably raise temperatures instead of lowering them, Toohey said.

The water vapor will stick around the upper atmosphere for a few years before making its way into the lower atmosphere, Toohey said.

In their study, published earlier this summer, they estimated the eruption to be even bigger, adding around 150 million metric tons of water vapor to the stratosphere - three times as much as Voemel's study found.

Either way, he said, the Tongan blast was unlike anything seen in recent history, and studying its aftermath may hold new insights into our atmosphere.