Hawaii 2017!
Aloha! We are so excited for this trip to Hawaii! The students have spent a year plus fundraising for, planning for, and preparing for this trip. It is finally here! We will be studying environmental science and climate change while in Hawaii. The students traveling with us either took my environmental science class or my climate change class last year. Invasive species, coral bleaching, habitat destruction, and air and water pollution are a few of the major environmental issues that we covered in class. Hawaii is experiencing all of these issues to a pretty severe degree. Kamilo Beach collects literally tons of plastic trash each year. Check out pictures online to get the full effect, or check back here after we have gone to see it and clean it. We will be observing all of these environmental issues first hand, meeting with conservationists, and helping out in any we can. Climate change - the biggest environmental issue - will be the main focus, as it is tightly interrelated to the other env. issues. In my climate change class last year, each student investigated a place around the world that is experiencing the impacts of climate change. Hawaii is one of those places. In fact there are A LOT of places that are already experiencing the effects, Minnesota included. The water temperature around Hawaii has risen 4 degrees in the last couple of decades, which is substantial and poses significant threats to Hawaii culturally, ecologically and economically. In Hawaii we will meet with and interview a variety of people who live and/or work in Hawaii, about their perspectives on climate change and how it has or may impact them. Locals, surfers, coffee farmers, sugarcane farmers, hotel owners, homeowners, tour guides, and outfitters to name a few. At the end of this trip we will compile our information and put together an article on what we found! Stay tuned! We will also be summiting Mauna Loa to see the famous Keeling CO2 monitor!
This trip won't all be doom and gloom though! We hope to see active lava flow, summit Mauna Kea, hike around in caves, kayak and snorkel an underwater national park, spend a day at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to a Luau and more. There is no place quite like Hawaii on earth, and I'm so excited these students get to experience it. They've earned it!
Check back on September 12 for an update!
This trip won't all be doom and gloom though! We hope to see active lava flow, summit Mauna Kea, hike around in caves, kayak and snorkel an underwater national park, spend a day at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to a Luau and more. There is no place quite like Hawaii on earth, and I'm so excited these students get to experience it. They've earned it!
Check back on September 12 for an update!
September 12 - Hawaii Bound
Aloha from Hawaii! We ,made it! This post comes a day late because yesterday was a full day of travel from Minnesota to Hawaii, with little sleep and lots of waiting! We had a full 20 hr day of traveling. We were in the air for a total of 10 hrs (5 of which were entirely over the Pacific Ocean), and the remainder of the day spent in shuttles, waiting around the airport for future flights. We finally arrived at our Kona Coast Resort, a VRBO condo around 10 oclock last night. It is 5 hours earlier in Hawaii, so that adjustment has been a little trying for all of us. But the kids were troopers! It was a tough day of travel, but I heard no complaining out of them, and we are here, in paradise!
September 13 - Keauhou Bay Kayaking
We woke up this morning around 5:30 A.M. by no choice of our own! The time difference is getting us all a little off balance, but it was great to wake up to the sunrise! We arrived late last night to our condo in Kona, HI, the dry, western side of the Big Island. We sat on our lanai this morning with our Kona coffees and discussed coral bleaching from warming ocean temperatures. The intention was to then go out in the bay with our kayaks and check out the coral reef scene. Based on current trends, if water temperatures continue to rise at this rate, all coral around the globe will be gone within 30 years from coral bleaching. So we wanted to see it while we still can! We grabbed our swimsuits and towels and set off on the bay with our kayaks to see if we could check out some coral! We didn't end up seeing any actual coral because several of our students were immediately sea sick, so we got a bit side tracked with that. We did see some beautiful views of the coast from the water however, which we won't see again while we are here. A few of us were also able to paddle far enough to check out the sea caves. The water was turbulent, so we opted out of entering the caves, but the lava rock cave formations were really something to see. This experience certainly tested the determination and open-mindedness of the students. It was a physically strenuous activity that we dove into right away, all exhausted from the long day of travel just a day before. Yet not a single student complained, not even the ones that were sick! They just pushed through. A few of the students ended up casually interviewing the owner of the kayak rental service to see what his perspective was on climate change and it's impacts on Hawaii. He said that he has noticed coral reef dying and disappearing. The coral reef bleaching in Hawaii is staggering. It's disappearing at an alarming rate. Yet this gentleman didn't know that coral bleaching was related to climate change (increases in water temperature). He thought that coral bleaching was in fact caused by the increased number of tourists in the area. So basically he admits that he is currently witnessing the effects of climate change by form of coral bleaching, yet tourism appears to be increasing. You'd think the opposite would happen, as many people visit Hawaii for the snorkeling and diving. Tomorrow we will be heading to 2-step to check out the coral reef there. Hopefully we find it healthy and happening.
After the kayaking experience we headed back to the condo to recover and rest from the busy past two days. Then we were off to a luau for dinner and a hula show. It's a touristy experience, but they do a great job of providing glimpses of some of the culturally significant traditions, food, music and dances of the Hawaiian people. We tried a variety of authentic Hawaiian foods like poi, and ate pork made in an Imu Hawaiian Earth Oven. A whole pig and very hot rocks were wrapped in ti leaves, lowered into a hole in the ground, covered with a mound of dirt and left to cook for eight hours underground. When it was removed, the pork falls apart, is shredded and ready to eat! Every student tried all of the food, even if they didn't think they'd like it. I encouraged it, but didn't require it. It was great to see them open their minds to new things. Although they didn't like everything (particularly the poi), they still tried it all, and I was proud of them for that. We are now winding down and preparing to summit Mauna Loa tomorrow! Aloha!
September 14 - Mauna loa
Mauna Loa, meaning "long mountain", is one of two mountains that makes up the Big Island of Hawaii. The other is Mauna Kea, which we will summit in a few days. Historically, Mauna Loa has been among the planet's most active volcanoes. During our climate change seminar last year we learned that a man named David Keeling put a CO2 meter at the top of Mauna Loa at the weather station. It has been collecting data for about 50 years on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The meter shows a significant increase in CO2 concentrations over time, which parallels the warming trends over the same period of time. The measured CO2 concentrations over time also parallel increased fossil fuel consumption over the past 50 years. Although there are other instruments around the world that record CO2, Keelings CO2 meter has been collecting information the longest. Keelings carbon dioxide meter recently showed that carbon dioxide levels rose at a record rate for the second year in a row.
We wanted to check out the NOAA Atmospheric Observatory (weather station) ourselves, so we hopped in the car and set out to ascend Mauna Loa. We stopped at Pu'u Huluhulu (meaning "hairy hill"in Hawaiian) at the base of Mauna Loa to acclimate to the change in altitude. The summit of Mauna Loa is about 13,600 feet above sea level. Pu'u Huluhulu was a small hill at about 6,000 ft above sea level. We got out of the car for about 20 minutes to hike the small hill to get used to the rapid altitude change. The hill is covered with Koa trees and on those trees grows lichen that makes the Koa forest look like a fairy tale land. From there we continued on our scenic drive up Mauna Loa. The base of the mountain starts with much older lava rock. As we ascended the landscape gradually changed to much newer lava rock (more recent flow). We stopped along the way to hike the lava fields and check out lava tubes. We ended up stopping and turning around at about 8,000 ft. because some of our students started feeling the effects of altitude sickness and dehydration. Although we didn't quite make it to our weather station destination, the trip was well worth it. It is interesting to go from lush, tropical coastal habitat to massive lava fields - that gives you the feeling that you are walking on the moon- in less than an hour drive. We spent the majority of the day on this adventure, so afterward we did a little shopping in Kona to grab some souvenirs and check out the local art scene, had an awesome spaghetti dinner at the condo, took a quick night swim in the pool, and went to bed. Tomorrow we will be leaving the Kona side of the island, and will start on our way to the Hilo side. Aloha!
We wanted to check out the NOAA Atmospheric Observatory (weather station) ourselves, so we hopped in the car and set out to ascend Mauna Loa. We stopped at Pu'u Huluhulu (meaning "hairy hill"in Hawaiian) at the base of Mauna Loa to acclimate to the change in altitude. The summit of Mauna Loa is about 13,600 feet above sea level. Pu'u Huluhulu was a small hill at about 6,000 ft above sea level. We got out of the car for about 20 minutes to hike the small hill to get used to the rapid altitude change. The hill is covered with Koa trees and on those trees grows lichen that makes the Koa forest look like a fairy tale land. From there we continued on our scenic drive up Mauna Loa. The base of the mountain starts with much older lava rock. As we ascended the landscape gradually changed to much newer lava rock (more recent flow). We stopped along the way to hike the lava fields and check out lava tubes. We ended up stopping and turning around at about 8,000 ft. because some of our students started feeling the effects of altitude sickness and dehydration. Although we didn't quite make it to our weather station destination, the trip was well worth it. It is interesting to go from lush, tropical coastal habitat to massive lava fields - that gives you the feeling that you are walking on the moon- in less than an hour drive. We spent the majority of the day on this adventure, so afterward we did a little shopping in Kona to grab some souvenirs and check out the local art scene, had an awesome spaghetti dinner at the condo, took a quick night swim in the pool, and went to bed. Tomorrow we will be leaving the Kona side of the island, and will start on our way to the Hilo side. Aloha!
September 15 - Hilo Bound
Good morning from Hilo! I am a little late in posting because we had a LONG day of driving and arrived at our new destination late last night. But what a day! One of the coolest days so far. We packed up all of our stuff, packed into the car and started heading south toward the east side of the island. On our way out of Kona we went up the mountain to a coffee and cocoa farm to sample and buy coffee. The farm owners said that climate change has absolutely impacted their farming and they are worried for the future. She has lived there for 40 years. The average rainfall in Kona for the past 40 years has been 100 inches per year. For the last several years it has been around 40 inches per year. This has had a very serious impact on the success of her coffee beans. She has started collecting rain water in a large bin so she can use that to water her plants during dry spells. Historically she hasn't had to do that. She said average temperatures have also gone up over the past decade which has caused a fungus that kills coffee bean plants to thrive on her farm. They spend a lot of money trying to manage that problem.
From there we headed to Two-Step, a popular snorkeling spot just outside of Kona. None of the students had snorkeled before, but ALL of them tried it. Some ended up enjoying it more than others. We saw parrot fish, sea turtles, angelfish, eels, and lots of coral. Lots of bleached coral unfortunately. The photo display below shows one picture of brown, healthy coral, thriving with fish, while the other, which was right next to the healthy one, was bleached and completely abandoned by any life. It was like swimming in a ghost town. The locals that live near this reef said the reef has changed dramatically over the past 5 or so years. The average water temperature in Hawaii has risen significantly (4 degrees in the past decade). Warming water is what causes bleaching. The locals we spoke to fear they're losing the reef not just from warming water temps, but from increased tourism. More human traffic to the area has brought more chemical and trash pollution to the reef. Some people also cause physical damage to the coral by removing pieces, stepping on it, boating through it, etc. This is how some locals see it anyway. Being there myself, I could see how those things may be posing problems for the coral, but the most obvious problem was bleached coral from my perspective. Fortunately there is a lot of research going on around the world in efforts to prevent extinction of coral. Ruth Gates, a biologist at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Science has been genetically modifying coral in her lab to create "new" species that are able to adapt to warmer, polluted water. She said her work is hotly debated as she is "tinkering with nature". Her goal is to save a severely threatened habitat, yet she is not protecting the habitat and preventing extinction like a traditional conservationist would. She is putting a "band-aid over the problem". Other scientists across the globe are launching captive breeding programs. Collecting polyps of coral, bringing them back to the lab, breeding them there, and transplanting those back into a reef. Of course that also comes with set-backs. It is expensive, not always reliable, and again isn't preventing coral death (bleaching). It is putting a band-aid over the source of the problem, which is warming water. But maybe that is ok if it means it will prevent extinction of a species while we are trying to come up with more permanent solutions. Time is running out. Coral scientists agree that at the current rate of bleaching, all coral around the globe will be gone in the next 30 years. I'm glad we all got a chance to see it while we still could. Hopefully with awareness, scientific research and implementation of critical policies, we will come back to Two-Step some day and the coral reef will be healthier than ever.
After Two Step, we got back in the car and continued on to South Point. From there we got into a shuttle that brought us to the greensand beach over very rough terrain. The green sand comes from olivine, a green crystal that is less dense than the fragments from lava rock, so it separates from the lava rock, gets washed to shore, and settles creating a green sand beach. The kids swam for about an hour in the cove. We then headed to our last top, Punulu'u black sand beach. The black sand comes from weathered lava rocks. The rough water break down the lava rock and leaves behind a black sand beach. You can always rely on this beach to see sea turtles bathing in the sand and foraging on the rocks in tide pools.
After that we headed to our final destination, the bamboo house in Pahoa (very close to Hilo). It is a lot more rustic than our modern Kona condo, tucked back in a rain forest, next to Champagne Ponds, which are naturally heated thermal pools. Some of our students are not appreciating the nature or rustic ambiance, but they will get used to it! Aloha until next time!
From there we headed to Two-Step, a popular snorkeling spot just outside of Kona. None of the students had snorkeled before, but ALL of them tried it. Some ended up enjoying it more than others. We saw parrot fish, sea turtles, angelfish, eels, and lots of coral. Lots of bleached coral unfortunately. The photo display below shows one picture of brown, healthy coral, thriving with fish, while the other, which was right next to the healthy one, was bleached and completely abandoned by any life. It was like swimming in a ghost town. The locals that live near this reef said the reef has changed dramatically over the past 5 or so years. The average water temperature in Hawaii has risen significantly (4 degrees in the past decade). Warming water is what causes bleaching. The locals we spoke to fear they're losing the reef not just from warming water temps, but from increased tourism. More human traffic to the area has brought more chemical and trash pollution to the reef. Some people also cause physical damage to the coral by removing pieces, stepping on it, boating through it, etc. This is how some locals see it anyway. Being there myself, I could see how those things may be posing problems for the coral, but the most obvious problem was bleached coral from my perspective. Fortunately there is a lot of research going on around the world in efforts to prevent extinction of coral. Ruth Gates, a biologist at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Science has been genetically modifying coral in her lab to create "new" species that are able to adapt to warmer, polluted water. She said her work is hotly debated as she is "tinkering with nature". Her goal is to save a severely threatened habitat, yet she is not protecting the habitat and preventing extinction like a traditional conservationist would. She is putting a "band-aid over the problem". Other scientists across the globe are launching captive breeding programs. Collecting polyps of coral, bringing them back to the lab, breeding them there, and transplanting those back into a reef. Of course that also comes with set-backs. It is expensive, not always reliable, and again isn't preventing coral death (bleaching). It is putting a band-aid over the source of the problem, which is warming water. But maybe that is ok if it means it will prevent extinction of a species while we are trying to come up with more permanent solutions. Time is running out. Coral scientists agree that at the current rate of bleaching, all coral around the globe will be gone in the next 30 years. I'm glad we all got a chance to see it while we still could. Hopefully with awareness, scientific research and implementation of critical policies, we will come back to Two-Step some day and the coral reef will be healthier than ever.
After Two Step, we got back in the car and continued on to South Point. From there we got into a shuttle that brought us to the greensand beach over very rough terrain. The green sand comes from olivine, a green crystal that is less dense than the fragments from lava rock, so it separates from the lava rock, gets washed to shore, and settles creating a green sand beach. The kids swam for about an hour in the cove. We then headed to our last top, Punulu'u black sand beach. The black sand comes from weathered lava rocks. The rough water break down the lava rock and leaves behind a black sand beach. You can always rely on this beach to see sea turtles bathing in the sand and foraging on the rocks in tide pools.
After that we headed to our final destination, the bamboo house in Pahoa (very close to Hilo). It is a lot more rustic than our modern Kona condo, tucked back in a rain forest, next to Champagne Ponds, which are naturally heated thermal pools. Some of our students are not appreciating the nature or rustic ambiance, but they will get used to it! Aloha until next time!
September 16 - The Big Islands East Side
Today we spent the morning exploring the east side of the Big Island. Hilo is a busy town right on the water. It is a lot less touristy than the Kona side and has two colleges. There are a lot of young people and locals, some going to college at the nearby University. Some whom have moved from all over the world to Hawaii to work and surf. It's very different than Kona in a lot of ways, not better or worse, just different.
We started off the day at Hilo's Farmer's Market, in my opinion, one of the best farmers markets in America! They sell local crafts, tropical fruits, homemade dips and spreads, baked goods, and more. I bought lychee mochi, rombatans, dragon fruit, a pink pineapple, and a few homemade bars for the kids to try. Most of the students at least tried each thing. It was fun to see their reactions. Some good, some bad. The mochi was not very popular! One of the students talked with a farmers market vendor on the issue of climate change. This particular vendor made beads from a variety of natural materials on the island like lava rock. She said she has noticed problems with the coconut trees on the coast because of rising sea levels. The trees are falling and drowning because they aren't meant to be inundated with water. Although this may be true, some others overhearing the conversation said they've noticed the same thing, but that there are many variables that contribute to that problem, not just rising sea levels.
After the farmers market we went to see rainbow falls and the boiling pots. If you catch the Rainbow Falls in the right weather conditions you just might see a rainbow in front of the falls. We did not. From there we went back past the falls a bit to the "boiling pots, not because the water is actually hot and boiling, but because the water can take on the appearance of boiling water when there are flash floods. The water becomes so tumultuous that it "boils". Water passes down each pot or pool of water all the way to rainbow falls.
The intention was to do a little more snorkeling and swimming at Richardson's Beach in Hilo, but one of our students got a pretty bad case of sun burn. We took him to urgent care to get him all fixed up and now he's as good as new! While there, he questioned the Dr. on why she moved to Hawaii, how long she had been there, if she'd noticed any environmental issues in Hawaii that need attending to, specifically when it comes to climate change. She said she doesn't see that climate change is the problem alone. It is a variety of things, all "human caused". She said climate change as well as soil erosion, water pollution, plastic trash on the beaches, species disappearing, are all serious problems that Hawaii is facing now and will continue to face if nothing changes. She specifically mentioned the issue of sand disappearing, which we hadn't heard of up to this point. Developers from other states buy Hawaii's sand and bring it to their "coasts". On top of that, to make matters worse, parrot fish, whom play a major role in creating sand, are disappearing quickly because coral, their main food source, is dying. Things aren't all doom and gloom for Hawaii though. The state is making huge strides in way of the plastic pollution problem. No plastic bags are used on the entire island, not even at Walmart!
Until tomorrow, Minnesota! Aloha!
We started off the day at Hilo's Farmer's Market, in my opinion, one of the best farmers markets in America! They sell local crafts, tropical fruits, homemade dips and spreads, baked goods, and more. I bought lychee mochi, rombatans, dragon fruit, a pink pineapple, and a few homemade bars for the kids to try. Most of the students at least tried each thing. It was fun to see their reactions. Some good, some bad. The mochi was not very popular! One of the students talked with a farmers market vendor on the issue of climate change. This particular vendor made beads from a variety of natural materials on the island like lava rock. She said she has noticed problems with the coconut trees on the coast because of rising sea levels. The trees are falling and drowning because they aren't meant to be inundated with water. Although this may be true, some others overhearing the conversation said they've noticed the same thing, but that there are many variables that contribute to that problem, not just rising sea levels.
After the farmers market we went to see rainbow falls and the boiling pots. If you catch the Rainbow Falls in the right weather conditions you just might see a rainbow in front of the falls. We did not. From there we went back past the falls a bit to the "boiling pots, not because the water is actually hot and boiling, but because the water can take on the appearance of boiling water when there are flash floods. The water becomes so tumultuous that it "boils". Water passes down each pot or pool of water all the way to rainbow falls.
The intention was to do a little more snorkeling and swimming at Richardson's Beach in Hilo, but one of our students got a pretty bad case of sun burn. We took him to urgent care to get him all fixed up and now he's as good as new! While there, he questioned the Dr. on why she moved to Hawaii, how long she had been there, if she'd noticed any environmental issues in Hawaii that need attending to, specifically when it comes to climate change. She said she doesn't see that climate change is the problem alone. It is a variety of things, all "human caused". She said climate change as well as soil erosion, water pollution, plastic trash on the beaches, species disappearing, are all serious problems that Hawaii is facing now and will continue to face if nothing changes. She specifically mentioned the issue of sand disappearing, which we hadn't heard of up to this point. Developers from other states buy Hawaii's sand and bring it to their "coasts". On top of that, to make matters worse, parrot fish, whom play a major role in creating sand, are disappearing quickly because coral, their main food source, is dying. Things aren't all doom and gloom for Hawaii though. The state is making huge strides in way of the plastic pollution problem. No plastic bags are used on the entire island, not even at Walmart!
Until tomorrow, Minnesota! Aloha!
September 17 - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Aloha and good morning! I am a day late in writing this because we had a VERY long day yesterday. We hiked 10 total miles, and biked 8 total miles, totaling 18 miles (over 20,000 steps according to FitBit) in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The kids are exhausted, but got to see a lot in a day that they have never seen and may never see again. Five volcanoes make up the island of Hawai`i: Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea. Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea are currently active, while the others have been dormant for thousands of years. Kilauea has been active since 1983. We spent the first half of the day near Kilauea Crater in HVNP. We hiked round trip through a variety of environments from rain forest, through lava tubes, across a massive lava crater. With the dramatic weather changes, long expanses of desolation, and steam rising out of the earth, we sometimes felt as if we were on the the moon, or how I would imagine mars to be. After that we night-biked into a lava viewing area, about 4 miles, to see the the lava from Pu'u O'o (the vent that is releasing lava from Kilauea) flowing down into the ocean. We got distracted from the ocean view by the actual lava flowing down the mountain. We followed the crowds in the dark over two miles of fresh lava rock to get up close and personal with lava. There were massive sheets of slowly moving lava down the mountain that we weren't able to stand next to because it would have been too dangerous. But we were close enough to get a great view of that, and were able to get close to some smaller patches of lava. It was a very cool day, but exhausting to say the least. The kids are a bit banged up and sore from all of the action, and are taking the morning to recuperate. This evening we will be driving to the summit of Mauna Kea to check out the sunset and the observatory. Aloha!
September 18 - Mauna Kea
Aloha (several days late)! Because yesterday was so jam packed, I gave the kids the option to take the morning to rest up before another long afternoon and evening, or go back out with me to check out some other fun sites in the Pahoa/Hilo area. A few of the girls stayed back with a group leader, and a few came out with me to explore. We headed into Hilo to play around at Richardson's Beach and Coconut Island, but we got rained out, so we hung around the some local art shops. Then we went to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Farm to do some taste testing and learn more about the macadamia nut industry in Hawaii. This particular company is the leading macadamia nut grower and distributer in Hawaii, so the experience was a bit touristy. We weren't able to connect with any of the farmers to ask about climate change, so we did a little digging. Turns out this farm that we visited, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts, is owned by Hershey's. Some of the nuts are grown in Hawaii, but a lot of nuts sold by this company are not made in Hawaii, yet are labeled as such. It was a little deceiving. It was definitely not an authentic Hawaiian experience! We did see acres and acres of macadamia trees though, and the factory in which they are processed. Hawaii processes 90% of the world macadamia nuts. I just wish we had gone to a more traditional Hawaiian farm. As far as climate change goes, Hawaii is warming and sea levels are rising. Those are facts. What is unknown right now is how that will impact macadamia nut farms in particular. There is potential for flooding, but the nut farms that we saw were not near the ocean, they were a little higher in altitude. There is also the risk of fungus, insects and other diseases that thrive in warmer climates. Those things will have to be watched and managed.
After we did our macadamia nut tour, we headed to Lava Tree State Monument. We strolled through the park to view a forest of lava trees – lava molds of the tree trunks that were formed when a lava flow swept through the area in 1790.
We headed back to house, grabbed the other kids, and went back out to head up Mauna Kea ("white mountain") and check out Kaumana Caves on the way. Kaumana Cave is actually a lava tube that was formed by lava flow from Mauna Loa in 1881. This lava tube is not your standard touristy cave, like one you may see in the Black Hills, with paved paths and lights lining the cave walls. It is completely black and requires some serious ducking and shimmying. We headed in quickly to discover that our flashlights were way too dim to safely hike the cave. We had a couple headlamps that were bright enough, so one other student and myself decided to head in a little further, while the other students and staff member opted out. It was a really cool experience that I think everyone would have tried if we had better flashlights. Next time! Finally, we began making our way up to the summit of Mauna Kea. The trip finale! The summit of Mauna Kea is 13,803 feet from sea level. The trip from Hilo to the observatory on Mauna Kea takes about 1 hr, and goes from 85 degrees to around 50 degrees. The observatory has the most spectacular telescopes available for viewing the stars. We hung out at the observatory for about 30 minutes to acclimate to the quick rise in altitude, and then ascended the mountain for another 30 minutes until we reached the summit. The temperature was about 38 degrees at the summit. With the sun setting behind the clouds that we were looking down on, we literally felt like we were on top of the world. As the sun goes down, you can turn the other direction and actually see an illusion of a mountain, which is actually a shadow of Mauna Kea created by the setting sun. It is there one second, and gone the next. Truly a magnificent experience. The whole experience was a great way to wrap up an already incredible trip.
After we did our macadamia nut tour, we headed to Lava Tree State Monument. We strolled through the park to view a forest of lava trees – lava molds of the tree trunks that were formed when a lava flow swept through the area in 1790.
We headed back to house, grabbed the other kids, and went back out to head up Mauna Kea ("white mountain") and check out Kaumana Caves on the way. Kaumana Cave is actually a lava tube that was formed by lava flow from Mauna Loa in 1881. This lava tube is not your standard touristy cave, like one you may see in the Black Hills, with paved paths and lights lining the cave walls. It is completely black and requires some serious ducking and shimmying. We headed in quickly to discover that our flashlights were way too dim to safely hike the cave. We had a couple headlamps that were bright enough, so one other student and myself decided to head in a little further, while the other students and staff member opted out. It was a really cool experience that I think everyone would have tried if we had better flashlights. Next time! Finally, we began making our way up to the summit of Mauna Kea. The trip finale! The summit of Mauna Kea is 13,803 feet from sea level. The trip from Hilo to the observatory on Mauna Kea takes about 1 hr, and goes from 85 degrees to around 50 degrees. The observatory has the most spectacular telescopes available for viewing the stars. We hung out at the observatory for about 30 minutes to acclimate to the quick rise in altitude, and then ascended the mountain for another 30 minutes until we reached the summit. The temperature was about 38 degrees at the summit. With the sun setting behind the clouds that we were looking down on, we literally felt like we were on top of the world. As the sun goes down, you can turn the other direction and actually see an illusion of a mountain, which is actually a shadow of Mauna Kea created by the setting sun. It is there one second, and gone the next. Truly a magnificent experience. The whole experience was a great way to wrap up an already incredible trip.
September 19 - We head home
Today we packed up bright and early and headed back toward Kona to catch our plane home. We had such an adventurous trip. The students were completely out of their elements for most of this trip, but they tried everything and kept an open mind. Cuts, bruises, sun burn, fear of bugs, fear of heights, altitude sickness, motion sickness, home sickness -- all of these things were felt amongst the group at one point or another, yet we pushed through. The students completely stepped out of their comfort zones and were challenged in every way; physically, emotionally, mentally. I watched each of them grow as individuals throughout this trip, each in their own way. It has been one of the highlights of my career. Thanks to everyone who contributed and supported us to help make this trip happen. It will not be forgotten, and has touched the life of each student in some way. Aloha Hawaii!
Group Project
I assigned the students a group project to do while here that is related to their environmental science and climate change classes. The project is to interview as many people in Hawaii as possible on their perspective of climate change: if it's serious, if it's impacting their lives now or if they anticipate it to in the future. So far they have talked to quite a few people whose livelihoods depend on a healthy environment. Hawaii's economy is based almost entirely on tourism, so many individuals value not only the cultural and aesthetic importance of Hawaii's environment, but the economic importance of it's environment as well. If the green sand beach for example disappears in the future (which it's well on its way), then the guys that shuttle tourists back and forth to this beach no longer have a source of income. If coral reef disappears, so do boating, snorkeling and diving tours, all of which provide a lot of jobs on this island. The commercial fishing industry would also be negatively impacted, as certain sea foods we eat are dependent on coral reef and clean, non-polluted water. Tourists don't want to come spend time on beaches that are littered with plastic trash either, so an enormous amount of money is put into keeping those beaches clean, which is an endless task and bottomless money pit until plastic is banned worldwide (as most of the plastic trash comes from the mainlands, NOT from Hawaii).
My students have been talking to these very people that are dependent on a healthy environment to live. This isn't a scientific experiment. They are not collecting data. They are not claiming any major scientific breakthroughs in climate science, nor are we saying that our interviewees responses are scientifically accurate. The students are just observing what the people of Hawaii are experiencing and how they are perceiving those experiences in relationship to climate change and other environmental issues. Each conversation has been and will continue to be noted in the day to day descriptions above.
To summarize our observations, we found that most of the people that we talked to have been impacted by specific environmental issues. There was definitely a pattern. Almost everyone we talked to commented on pollution, but the concern was more on trash pollution than it was on air pollution from greenhouse gases. Soil erosion, beach loss and loss of coral reef habitat were also serious concerns of those we spoke with. Although there are a variety of elements that contribute to beach loss (like selling it to developers) and coral reef loss (like trawling), climate change is the leading driver of those problems. Regardless of what is causing these issues though, the issues are of great concern to Hawaiian residents.
My students have been talking to these very people that are dependent on a healthy environment to live. This isn't a scientific experiment. They are not collecting data. They are not claiming any major scientific breakthroughs in climate science, nor are we saying that our interviewees responses are scientifically accurate. The students are just observing what the people of Hawaii are experiencing and how they are perceiving those experiences in relationship to climate change and other environmental issues. Each conversation has been and will continue to be noted in the day to day descriptions above.
To summarize our observations, we found that most of the people that we talked to have been impacted by specific environmental issues. There was definitely a pattern. Almost everyone we talked to commented on pollution, but the concern was more on trash pollution than it was on air pollution from greenhouse gases. Soil erosion, beach loss and loss of coral reef habitat were also serious concerns of those we spoke with. Although there are a variety of elements that contribute to beach loss (like selling it to developers) and coral reef loss (like trawling), climate change is the leading driver of those problems. Regardless of what is causing these issues though, the issues are of great concern to Hawaiian residents.