What a Difference: Vog vs No Vog on Hawaii Island

Published June 3, 2018 | By Elizabeth Weintraub

If you would like to see what vog vs no vog on Hawaii Island looks like, check out the photographs below. In the vog photo, which I shot yesterday on June 2, 2018, it looks as though I captured the scene on black-and-white film. The vog sucked all the color out of the picture. Also, the horizon vanished. In fact, the day before I returned to Big Island at the end of May, we had a Red Alert day in Kailua-Kona. I’ve never seen a Red Alert day.

But since I’ve arrived, the air quality in Kailua-Kona has been code yellow, meaning not safe for sensitive groups. Same as it was in Sacramento yesterday, btw. I received an air alert on my phone, and I had to look more closely at it to figure out if it was about Hawaii or Sacramento. Of all things, it was Sacramento, so I sent it to my husband. He reported it was 98 in Sacramento. It was 78 here on Hawaii Island.

Now, every morning when I get up, the first thing I check even before MLS is the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory email. I need to know as well the state of vog on Hawaii Island. It tells me how high the plumes, about explosions, new fissures and speed of lava flows. I usually get several emails throughout the day about the air quality. In fact, when I was in Lowe’s on Friday, the store featured a big display at the checkout counter of SO2 masks.

Having a volcano erupting on the other side of the island makes one uneasy. Also, I regret that I did not pay more attention to science and chemistry in school. I was an English major and wrongly figured I would never really need to employ science in my life. How arrogant, in retrospect. Lately, though, I’ve developed a new-found respect for science. Science — no wonder Trump hates it — explains global warming, too.

Here are some life-and-death facts we don’t think about every day.

Sulfur dioxide is one of the gas by-products of volcanoes and it is in falling ash, which coats your vegetation. If it rains, well, mixing rainwater with sulfur dioxide turns into sulfuric acid . . . on your plants. In fact, when pahoehoe lava rolls over plant life, it creates methane gas. Which can ignite, produce a blue flame and then explode. Falling ash, volcanic gases block the sun. No sun means no photosynthesis, which supplies life to plants.

Serious shit here. Everything dies. No food source, you die.

Vog on Hawaii Island contains volcanic glass particles which make your eyes water, throat scratchy and many people cough a lot. It can make you tired. I’ve read that a mask doesn’t help, so I don’t know why Lowes sells them.

Almost 100 homes in Leilani Estates have been destroyed so far. The government finally told everybody to get out but some refuse to leave. I mentioned to a guy from Kau who worked on our security alarm that we donated to the Hawaii Food Basket, the only nonprofit food source in Hawaii. And how the nonprofit lets donors choose to directly assist those who lost their homes. That guy from Kau said long-time homeless are showing up to claim emergency relief meant for the Puna disaster victims.

Well, they are all homeless. Many are not homeless by choice but by circumstance.

You can’t go to the eastern side of Hawaii Island to watch the eruptions, although I briefly considered it. The government is turning people away, set up security road blocks and will fine those who so much try to fly a drone over Kilauea. Sadly, the only road into Leilani Estates is now covered with lava. As a result, they are digging up the Chain of Craters Road, which has also been blocked with lava for more than 50 years.

Of course, I am still connecting with sellers in Sacramento and still listing homes in Sacramento, even though I am dealing with vog on Hawaii Island. I wish there was a way to show more support for those victims of disaster, though. Let me know what you think about the two photos below. Bear in mind they are both shot in color.