Lava fountains and flows illuminate the area during the Mauna Loa volcano eruption in Hawaii, U.S. November 30, 2022.
Credit: © Go Nakamura, Reuters/Alamy Images

That’s a whole lotta lava! Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted on November 27, 2022, and it hasn’t stopped. Mauna Loa is in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii. It rises 13,677 feet (4,169 meters) from sea level to its peak. That is about 12 Eiffel Towers standing on top of each other! At the top is Mokuaweoweo, a crater. But wait, there is more! The Kilauea, a volcano that lies on the southeastern slope of Mauna Loa, is also erupting. The two volcanoes are creating a dual eruption that has continued since late November.

Mauna Loa, meaning long mountain, spans about half the surface of Hawaii’s Big Island. It covers 10.5 miles from the base to the summit. It hasn’t erupted in 38 years! Most volcanologists consider any volcano that has erupted in the last 10,000 years or so to be active. Some of them use the term dormant to describe an active volcano that is not currently erupting or showing signs of a coming eruption. Volcanologists label a volcano extinct if there is strong evidence it will never erupt again.

Mauna Loa’s continued eruption has shot lava into the sky and down the slope of the mountain. The lava flow is dangerously close to a pivotal highway on the Big Island. Daniel K. Inouye highway connects the eastern and western halves of the island. As the lava flow galumphed at a rate of 40 to 60 feet an hour, officials activated the National Guard to the scene on Tuesday, 9 days after the eruption began. Officials have a plan for shutting down the highway if the lava gets much closer.

Scientists can predict the behavior of volcanic eruptions by looking at past eruptions. There is plenty of data on Kilauea since it has erupted off and on since the mid-1950′s. Kilauea erupted in 2018 engulfing around 700 homes in lava and spewing volcanic ash 30,000 feet into the air. While scientists know what Kilauea is capable of, they do not have much information on Mauna Loa.

Mauna Loa’s longest eruption lasted 18 months in 1855-1856. Most of the lava produced by eruptions comes from rifts (cracks) in the mountain’s sides, not from the peak crater. In 1926, lava destroyed a coastal settlement. Parts of other settlements were buried in 1950. A 1984 eruption sent lava flowing to within 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) of the city of Hilo.

August 29, 2018

On Sunday, August 26, an all-star baseball team from Honolulu, Hawaii, won the Little League World Series by defeating a team from Seoul, South Korea, 3-0. The Little League World Series is a competition played each year in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, among kids aged 11 to 13. The tournament, first played in 1947, includes 16 Little League teams from the United States and the rest of the world. Little League Baseball is the world’s largest organized youth-sports program, with nearly 180,000 teams.

The Honolulu Little League all-stars flash the traditional Hawaiian shaka “hang loose” hand greeting after winning the 2018 Little League World Series on Aug. 26, 2018. Credit: Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball

The ballplayers from Honolulu Little League dominated the final at South Williamsport’s Howard J. Lamade Stadium. Starting pitcher Ka’olu Holt went the distance, limiting the South Koreans to just two hits and no runs over the game’s six innings. Holt fanned eight batters and surrendered just one walk. On the offensive side, Honolulu first baseman Mana Lau Kong homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning, igniting a boisterous Hawaii dugout. Seoul starter Yeong Hyeon Kim settled in after that, but he was the victim of his own lack of control in the bottom of the third. With the bases loaded on a hit and two walks, a wild pitch allowed Honolulu’s Zachary Won to score from third base, and an errant throw on the play brought Taylin Oana home from second to make the score 3-0. Hawaii played flawless defense, and Holt recorded the final out in the sixth on a swinging strikeout.

2018 Little League Baseball World Series.
Credit: © Little League Baseball

After a joyful celebration in front of the pitcher’s mound, members of the Honolulu team thanked their South Korean opponents. They then raced to the center field wall to rub the bronze bust of the stadium’s namesake, Howard J. Lamade—a longstanding tradition for the winning team. (Lamade was a Pennsylvania newspaper publisher and a key figure in the early years of Little League Baseball.)

The Honolulu all-stars rolled through the United States bracket of the tournament, winning all five of their games by a combined score of 26-3, including a 3-0 win over Peachtree City (Georgia) American Little League to reach the World Series final. The championship was the third for the state of Hawaii: the Ewa Beach team took the title in 2005, and the little leaguers from Waipio won it all in 2008. The Seoul, South Korea, squad fought through the tough international tournament, edging the all-stars from Kawaguchi, Japan, 2-1 to reach the final. South Korean teams previously won the Little League World Series in 1984, 1985, and 2014. The 2018 tournament’s 32 games drew a total of nearly 500,000 fans.

May 30, 2018

Earlier this month, on May 3, Kilauea, a large volcano on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, erupted violently and pumped dangerous lava flows near residential neighborhoods, prompting local officials to order emergency evacuations. Since then, dozens of fissures have opened up along the slopes of the volcano, oozing glowing lava or shooting fountains of it high into the air. The volcano has also produced massive columns of smoke and ash and a haze with varying amounts of poisonous gases. As of today, Kilauea’s eruption proceeds without any signs of stopping, and new lava fissures and cracks appear daily.

A massive column of ash and smoke billows from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on May 4, 2018, near Pahoa, Hawaii. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

Volcanologists have used flying drones to monitor Kilauea’s flowing lava as it creeps towards homes and other buildings in the Leilani Estates neighborhood near the town of Pahoa. Hawaii Governor David Ige mobilized the Hawaii National Guard to assist with evacuations and security in the area. So far, 82 homes have been destroyed by lava and around 2,000 residents have been evacuated. Kilauea’s flows have also damaged several other structures, including the Puna Geothermal Venture, a conversion plant that uses heat from volcanic activity to generate electric power.

Lava erupts from a fissure in the Kilauea volcano on May 22, 2018, in Kapoho, Hawaii. Credit: © Mario Tama, Getty Images

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. The current eruption is only the latest of a highly active eruption cycle that began in January 1983. This month’s eruption was preceded by a swarm of small earthquakes caused by the movement of magma beneath Kilauea and the collapse of a volcanic vent in Kilauae’s crater floor. On May 3, 2018, hours after a magnitude-5.0 earthquake, steam and lava spewed from several surface cracks on the eastern side of Hawaii’s Big Island.

Kilauea rises 4,190 feet (1,227 meters) above sea level and constitutes about 14 percent of the land area of the Big Island. Kilauea and massive Mauna Loa are the stars of the area’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kilauea is a shield volcano, a volcanic mountain with broad, gently sloping sides. Shield volcanoes commonly erupt in fountains of lava. The fountains feed lava lakes within a caldera (large crater), and long, often slow-moving flows seep down the volcano’s sides. Repeated eruptions produce layer upon layer of flows. The layers gradually build the slope upwards and outward, forming a shallow, rounded cone. The name shield volcano refers to such a volcano’s broadly curved shape, which resembles a soldier’s shield. Kilauea’s summit caldera contains a lava lake known as Halema`uma`u. In Hawaiian mythology, the molten lake is the home of the volcano goddess, Pele.

Volcanologists are worried about the many fissures that have opened along the eastern slope of Kilauea, spewing lava, smoke, and ash. Some flows reached the Pacific Ocean, where red-hot lava created huge clouds of steam laced with poisonous and stinky sulfur dioxide. Gases from Kilauea have collected into a toxic volcanic smog that has now drifted as far away as Guam and the Mariana Islands, where residents have been warned to limit outdoor activity.

May 29. 2017

This week, Mythic Monday turns to the vast Pacific Ocean and the fiery Polynesian goddess Pele. The passionate, volatile, and capricious goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes, Pele (PEH leh) is easily one of the most entertaining characters in the mythology of Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. There are many stories where Pele’s famous fury is ignited—usually from jealousy or arrogance—resulting in spectacular volcanic eruptions or fiery lava flows that leave death and destruction in their wake. But Pele is also known as the “Goddess of the Sacred Land” and “She-who-shapes-the land” for her role in the creation of new land through volcanic eruptions.

The fire goddess Pele, shown here in a wooden sculpture, was worshiped on many islands of Polynesia. The Hawaiians believed she lived in the volcano Kilauea. When the goddess became angry, the volcano erupted. Credit: Wood sculpture with beaten bark cloth, 22 1/2 inches (57 centimeters) high; Museum of Man, Paris

According to Hawaiian myth, Pele resides within Kilauea (kee loh WAY ah), a large active volcano on the island of Hawaii. She is not always home, and the ground shakes whenever she moves from one location to another to visit members of her large family. Pele sometimes appears as an ugly hag with rough skin and red eyes and other times as a beautiful woman. Legends claim that Pele’s face can sometime be seen in Kilauea’s explosive eruptions caused by her furious wrath.

Pele is famous for her fickle temper, and most myths in Hawaii portray her as jealous and spiteful. In one myth, Pele saw the lovely snow goddess, Poli’ahu  (poh lee AH hoo), and became jealous of her beauty. Pele opened up the ground and hurled fire and lava at Poli’ahu. With her snowy cloak on fire, Poli’ahu fled to the top of Mauna Kea, a large volcano neighboring Kilauea. As she ran, Poli’ahu threw snow to cool and harden the lava that Pele threw. Eventually, Pele’s temper cooled and she surrendered Mauna Kea to Poli’ahu and settled in Kilauea herself. This explains why Mauna Kea has a cap of snow while snowless Kilauea spews lava to this day.

In another myth, Pele sent her sister, Hi’iaka (hee ee AH kuh), to retrieve Pele’s lover, a prince from the island of Kauai. Hi’iaka agreed, but only if Pele promised not to harm her beloved lehua (leh HOO uh) groves or her friend Hopoe (HO PO eh). (The lehua is a tree with clusters of bright-red flowers.) Pele agreed, but Hi’iaka was delayed upon discovering that Pele’s lover had died. Hi’iaka spent days chanting over the lover’s body to bring him back to life. Convinced that her sister had stolen her lover, Pele burned the lehua groves, killing Hopoe as well. Upon returning with Kauai’s prince, Hi’iaka was furious to discover her sister had broken her promise. The sisters eventually made peace, and it is said that, as a result, lehua flowers are among the first things to grow on the island’s hardened lava flows.

Even today, tourists to Hawaii must beware the wrath of Pele. According to a popular legend, any visitor who takes a piece of volcanic lava from the Hawaiian Islands risks angering the goddess. The legend warns that anyone who does take a bit of rock from Hawaii as a souvenir will suffer bad luck until the rock is returned to Hawaii and Pele is appeased.

December 22, 2016

Last month, a new dawn rose over a small island in American Samoa. The island of Tau (also spelled Ta’u), home to less than 1,000 people, now gets all of its electric power from the sun. It is a small but significant step in the global push toward renewable energy. American Samoa is a United States territory in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. It consists of seven tropical islands with a combined population of about 55,000 people.

Solar panels and battery storage systems on the island of Ta’u, seen here, have provided all the island’s electric power since November 2016. Credit: © SolarCity

Tau worked with the company SolarCity, which was recently acquired by the electric car manufacturer Tesla, to convert its small electrical grid to run entirely on solar energy. (Both companies were founded by Elon Musk, a South African-born business developer.) About 5,000 solar panels and 60 battery storage systems were installed on the island over the course of two years. The battery systems store electric energy for nights and cloudy days. With the battery backups, the island can operate without sun for several days in a row.

Prior to the solar conversion, Tau’s power came from costly and polluting electric generators. Diesel fuel had to be shipped to the island over long stretches of ocean, an expensive process that itself used a lot of fuel. The new solar energy system will save some 110,000 gallons (415,000 liters) of diesel fuel each year, thereby preventing about 2.5 million pounds (1.1 million kilograms) of carbon dioxide emissions—a main cause of global warming and climate change—from entering the atmosphere.

The conversion is the latest step in the slow but steady trend toward renewable energy. Not only are such power systems better for the environment, but they are also becoming cheaper than fossil fuel-burning systems in a growing number of situations. Prices for solar cells continue to fall while their efficiency at capturing the sun’s energy slowly improves. Manufacturers are producing larger and more efficient wind turbines as well. Earlier this month, the first offshore wind farm in the United States began delivering power to an island within the state of Rhode Island. Offshore wind farms are more expensive and complicated to build than wind turbines on land, but they take advantage of strong, steady winds off the coasts to deliver cheap, consistent power.

Pacific islands like Tau are prime targets for switching to solar energy. Many are close to the equator and have few cloudy days. Therefore, they receive a strong, constant supply of sunlight year-round. Furthermore, the remote locations of these islands make shipping fossil fuels to them extremely expensive. Residents of Tau saw their electric bills remain the same after the switch and will now be insulated from oil’s fluctuating (rapidly changing) prices that, in the past, often caused energy costs to spike.

SolarCity is now working with the Hawaiian island of Kauai to improve distribution and storage of solar energy there. Kauai is significantly larger than Tau, with a population of over 70,000, but the Hawaiian state government is committed to switching to entirely renewable energy. Such islands as Kauai and Tau are likely to bear the brunt of global warming through rising sea levels and greater numbers of extreme weather events. Renewable energy, often considered the best environmental choice, may soon become the best economic choice as well.

December 7, 2016

Today, December 7, marks the 75^th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack officially drew the United States into World War II (1939-1945). Thousands of people have attended events that began last week at Pearl Harbor, capped by today’s headline ceremony at Kilo Pier attended by survivors of the attack and a number of dignitaries. The U.S. Navy co-hosted events with the National Park Service, with support from the city and county of Honolulu, the state of Hawaii, the governor’s office, Hawaiian members of Congress, and other branches of the U.S. military.

Events today at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, recall the Japanese attack 75 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941. The World War II battleship USS Missouri sits in the right foreground. The white Arizona memorial is at left. Credit: National Park Service

Events this morning at Pearl Harbor begin precisely at 7:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. Eastern Time), the moment the first Japanese planes hit nearby Hickam Field on Dec. 7, 1941. Following events today include the laying of a wreath at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the ringing of the Freedom Bell at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, a band performance at the Battleship Missouri Memorial, a four-team college basketball tournament, ceremonies at the USS Oklahoma Memorial on Ford Island, and ceremonies at Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield honoring the U.S. Army and its 25th Infantry Division. A private interment ceremony will take place at the USS Arizona Memorial, where the ashes of two Arizona survivors who recently passed away will be buried with their comrades who died in the ship 75 years ago. A memorial parade down Honolulu’s Kalakaua Avenue and a closing ceremony will finish the day’s formal events.

The poignant USS Arizona Memorial sits above the sunken remains of the battleship itself. Of the ship’s 1,511 crew members, 1,177 died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Credit: National Park Service

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Two waves of Japanese warplanes sank several U.S. ships, including four battleships. They also destroyed more than 180 U.S. aircraft. The Japanese killed 2,400 Americans but lost only about 100 of their own troops. The attack was a success for Japan at the time. But bringing the United States into the war proved disastrous for Japan and its citizens. The attack on Pearl Harbor has since become one of the iconic moments in U.S. history.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a key event in U.S. history. Following the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base, the United States declared war on Japan and formally entered World War II (1939-1945). Credit: © AP Photo

September 7, 2016

On August 28, six brave explorers breathed the fresh air of Earth for the first time in a year. Since last August, they had been living in an isolated dome, only able to step outside wearing full space suits. They had limited contact with the outside world and had to make do with whatever supplies they had with them. In truth, however, the explorers never left Earth. These six people were simulating what life would be like on a Mars mission—and they were doing it from the “tropical paradise” of Hawaii. The team included a French astrobiologist, a German physicist, and four Americans: an architect, a journalist, a pilot, and a soil scientist.

A HI-SEAS team member takes a stroll along the Martian-like slopes of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Credit: © Sian Proctor, University of Hawaii

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the next planet beyond Earth in our solar system. Of all the planets in our solar system, Mars has the surface environment that most closely resembles that of Earth. Mars has weather and seasons and familiar landforms. Salty water may flow just below the Martian surface. Because of the Red Planet’s relatively familiar appearance, many see it as the next logical place for human exploration.

The interior of the HI-SEAS dome provides all the comforts of home, or, at least, a home on Mars. Credit: © Zak Wilson, HI-SEAS/University of Hawaii

The six people were part of the fourth Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), conducted by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). They lived isolated in a dome on Mauna Loa, a huge shield volcano. The craggy red terrain of the volcano resembles the Martian surface. During a HI-SEAS mission, crew members conduct experiments, deal with unforeseen events, and live with limited resources and contact from the outside world. Whenever they left their habitation module to explore the volcano, they would don full space suits. All communication with the rest of the world was delayed by 20 minutes to simulate the time it takes for radio signals to travel between Earth and Mars. The explorers ate bland diets of food that could survive long-duration storage. They also had to maintain their habitat and repair any systems that failed.

On Aug. 28, 2016, happy HI-SEAS explorers “return to Earth” after 365 days of a simulated Mars mission in Hawaii. Credit: © University of Hawaii

While it may sound like high-concept make-believe, experiments like this one will help NASA better prepare future astronauts for long-term space missions, such as a journey to Mars. During such missions, astronauts will be crammed together in small spaces for months or years on end. Simply reaching Mars from Earth will take six months. Maintaining the mental health of the crew will be just as important as keeping any mechanical system in working order. Astronauts will have to cope with boredom and homesickness and avoid interpersonal conflict to accomplish tasks millions of miles from any outside help. The data gathered from HI-SEAS expeditions will help them know what to expect.

This was the longest HI-SEAS mission to date, but it is not the longest Martian simulation. That honor belongs to Russia’s Mars-500 project in 2010-2011, in which another six-person crew endured 520 days of isolation.

February 26, 2016

A surfer competes in the Quicksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational on Dec. 8, 2009 at Waimea Bay, Hawaii. Credit:© Mana Photo/Shutterstock

Yesterday, February 25, in Hawaii, more than 30,000 fans lined Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore to watch surfers brave 60-foot (18-meter) waves in the rare Quicksilver Eddie Aikau big wave surf competition. The surfing contest, last held in 2009, occurs only when wave sizes consistently exceed 30 feet (9 meters). It was the ninth running of the “Eddie,” a competition created in 1984 and named for Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer Eddie Aikau, who was lost at sea in 1978.

Hawaiian surfer John John Florence, just 23 years old, took top honors at the Eddie, one of surfing’s most prestigious and dangerous contests. World-class surfers Ross Clarke-Jones, Shane Dorian, Jamie Mitchell, and Kelly Slater rounded out the top 5 among the Eddie’s 28 competitors. The monster waves toppled surfer after surfer, and smashed several surfboards to pieces. On the beaches, young fans scrambled to collect pieces of the broken boards as souvenirs. Eddie Aikau’s 66-year-old brother Clyde surfed the contest for his record ninth and final time.

In March 1978, 31-year-old Eddie Aikau was part of a team that was attempting to trace the route of their Polynesian ancestors from Hawaii to Tahiti. Off the island of Molokai, the team’s traditional canoe capsized. Eddie paddled away on his surfboard to get help, but was never seen again. The rest of the team was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

August 7, 2014

People in the Hawaiian islands today are bracing for two storms–Hurricane Iselle and Tropical Storm Julio. The islands are rarely directly hit by hurricanes, so for two storms to make landfall on the Hawaiian Islands in 3 days is a rare event. Yesterday, Iselle had maximum sustained winds of 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour and Julio of 65 miles (100 kilometers) per hour. Iselle was expected to reach the Big Island, the island of Hawaii, this afternoon or evening. Julio is further out and is expected to make landfall Monday (August 11).

Two major storms from the east are expected to make landfall in Hawaii over the next few days—Hurricane Iselle and Tropical Storm Julio. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

The U.S. Coast Guard predicted storm surges and high surf and the U.S. National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch that began early today. Residents of Hawaii were stocking up on bottled water and canned goods as they were warned to gather a 7-day disaster supply kit.

Additional World Book articles:

• Hurricane
• Hurricane (a research guide)

June 5, 2014

Unusual rocks found on a beach in Hawaii may become long-lasting evidence of the impact humans are having on our planet as well as a marker for the start of a new division of geologic time. The rock is a conglomerate, a rock made up of pebbles, gravel, or the like, held together by a mineral cement. Only in this case, the cement is melted plastic from trash washed or blown ashore. The scientists involved in the rock’s identification have named it plastiglomerate. They also suspect that the new rock can be found along other coasts.

Marine researcher Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Institute in Long Beach, California, found the rock on Kamilo Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii. The beach, which is heavily litered with plastic trash, has been called the dirtiest beach in the world. After hearing Moore talk about the rock, geologist Patricia Corcoran and artist Kelly Jazvac of the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in Canada decided to check out the rock for themselves. Their investigations revealed two versions of the new rock. The first, called in-situ plastiglomerate, consists of porous volcanic rocks whose many tiny holes contain melted plastic. The second, more common, kind is called clastic plastiglomerate. It consists of sand, coral, bits of wood, and other debris glued together by melted plastic.

Moore originally thought that the plastic had melted because of lava flows common to the volcanically active Big Island. However, Corcoran and Jazvac discovered that campfires, not lava, were responsible for the plastiglomerate. “It’s so polluted you couldn’t have a campfire there without burning some plastic,” Jazvac told a UWO newsletter. “The quantity is so high that if you’re living near this beach, and you want to live there, what else are you going to do with this material?”

When the scientists analyzed the rock, they found plastic from netting, ropes, and other fishing-related debris; containers and lids; tubes and pipes; and other objects. They suspect the debris came from the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” one of the worst regions of plastic pollution in the ocean. The Patch, which lies between California and Japan, is created by spiraling, wind-driven ocean currents carrying trash from coastal waters and other sites throughout the North Pacific.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the area of Texas and contains an estimated 3 million tons (2.7 metric tons) of plastic. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

For future geologists, the plastiglomerate may be marker for the beginning of a new geologic period. Currently, we are living in the Holocene Period, which began 11,500 years ago, with the end of the Ice Age. However, some scientists have suggested establishing a new geologic period called the Anthropocene Period to mark the time during which humans have significantly changed Earth’s natural features and ecosystems. Cocoran’s team believes that plastiglomerate, which is much denser than ordinary plastic, could become buried in the sand and, thus, become part of the rock record. “If someone came along a million years from now, and was looking at a stratigraphic [layered] section through the rock, they would be able to see this plastic along one horizon and say this was the time when humankind was using so much plastic and not disposing of it properly,” Corcoran said.

Additional World Book articles:

• Earth (Age of Earth)
• Geology
• Plastic Planet (a Special Report)