Kona Volcano

Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii is an active volcano releasing toxic gasses which affect the air quality across the entire state of Hawaii. Parts of Hawaii County have been declared a disaster area due to lost crops and grazing lands. Some people have had health effects, particularly those with breathing problems or asthma. People have different reactions to the vog. Some get sore throats and feel terrible and others barely notice. It is the same with the trees and plants. Some plants dry out and die while others seem to love the acidity.

Kilauea is on the southeast side of Mauna Loa with an elevation of 4,091 feet (1,247 meters). Within Kilauea's caldera, there is a smaler crater called Halema'uma'u which is where much of the gas, ash and occasional eruptions of lava are coming from.

The USGS has a live CAM of Kilauea's eruption activity. At night the crater sometimes glows and even emits bright red particles high into the sky.

Another vent (Pu'u O'o vent) about 15 miles from the Kilauea caldera towards Hilo, is also very active and also spewing gasses in earnest.

NASA's Earth Observatory has been monitoring Kilauea output from space. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite recorded the sulfur dioxide rising out of Kilauea.

The gases build up on southwest side of Hawaii Island (that big red blob) and moving northwest with the prevailing trade winds causing a lot of Vog (volcanic emissions) on the leeward side of Hawaii County. When Kona coast heats up during the day, the Vog is often sucked in from the ocean and covers the town with a thick smog. The county of Hawaii created a sulfur dioxide condition color chart. At this point there seems no end to the continuous eruptions from the volcano.

Information about the toxicity of SO2 is available here from the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry). Information about Hawaii's Current Air Quality Conditions from the EPA are here.

Here is a view from Hwy 11 driving past the Kona airport.

Here is a video of the drive by the Kona airport during a Voggy day. Normally you can see a crystal blue ocean beyond the black lava.

This is a video of the volcanic activity from the Volcanoes National Park:

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