If your eyes are burning and you canʻt see the Waiʻanae Mountains from town, you might be wondering, how bad is the vog today?
Vog levels are "moderate," according to the UH Mānoa Vog Measurement and Prediction project, or VMAP. The next highest levels are "Unhealthy," then "Hazardous." Click the link to see the vog plume animated over time. Currently it displays the Islands from 9 a.m., April 3, out to 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, April 5.
VMAP tracks the levels of two chemicals coming out of Hawai‘i Islandʻs volcanic vents — sulfur dioxide and sulfate aerosols. Currently, Kīlauea is producing "1,000 tonnes"of sulfur dioxide per day. Play the animation at the site and you can see an especially big plume corkscrew away from Kīlauea to the southwest around midday Thursday.
According to its projection, the vog should mostly clear overnight.
"The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on December 23 is paused," the site notes at this writing. "Gas emissions have dropped significantly but remain elevated. Significant aged vog remains present over the Islands, contributing to reduced air quality over the entire state. ʻModerateʻ conditions are expected today."
For a detailed fact sheet on the health impacts of vog, click here.
"Individuals with pre-existing respiratory conditions are the primary group at risk of experiencing health effects from vog exposures, but healthy people may also experience symptoms," according to the multi-agency fact sheet. "It is very important to listen to your own body and take measures to protect yourself if you feel your health is being affected by vog. The 'sensitive groups' most likely to experience health impacts include: people with asthma or other respiratory conditions, people with cardiovascular disease, older adults, infants and children, new or expectant mothers."
For kama‘āina, vog has been a persistent problem since Kīlauea began an eruption cycle in 1983, especially on Hawaiʻi Island. It made headlines when vog levels finally abated in 2019. Vog is created "when sulfur dioxide and other volcanic pollutants mix with oxygen and water vapor in the presence of sunlight," explains NASA.
A. Kam Napier can be reached at kam@alohastatedaily.com.
