Attributing the Stratospheric Impacts From the Water‐Rich Explosive Hunga Volcanic Eruption of 2022

Abstract The January 2022 Hunga volcanic eruption injected an unprecedented ∼150 Tg of water vapor (O) and ∼0.4 Tg of sulfur dioxide () into the stratosphere. Observational studies confirm that this perturbation triggered significant changes in stratospheric composition and dynamics. This study leverages simulations from the SOCOL‐AERv2‐Volc chemistry‐climate model to evaluate nonlinearities in the stratospheric response to injections of O and . Results show that co‐injecting both species in the SOCOL‐AERv2‐Volc model results in significantly different early plume characteristics, including the spatial distribution of aerosol formation and water vapor retention, producing a unique thermal and dynamical response, as compared with simulations injecting only O or . Nonlinear interactions between O and significantly affect ozone‐related chemistry, particularly involving chlorine, nitrogen, and hydrogen oxide species. Together these findings emphasize the necessity of including multi‐species interactions in assessments of volcanic impacts on stratospheric composition and climate, especially when considering spatially resolved climate impacts outside of the global mean. Advancing an understanding of the coupling of the stratospheric dynamical, chemical, and radiative processes intrinsic to the Hunga volcanic eruption provides important insight into the stratospheric response to other stratospheric perturbations arising from natural and anthropogenic sources.