Native Hawaiians may be fighting to protect Mauna Kea from a giant telescope, but now they have a different kind of star power on their side. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, one of the world’s highest-grossing actors, visited the protesters Wednesday to lend support, Hawaii News Now reported. Johnson’s visit occurred on the 10th day of […]
Hawaiian lawmakers and conservationists are pushing for a landmark law to protect the Aloha State’s sharks and rays. House Bill 808, which outlaws the intentional killing, capture, abuse or entanglement of sharks and rays in state marine waters, passed its first committee meeting on Wednesday. The upper chamber version, Senate Bill 489, secured its first […]
By Jason Bittel On January 2, a snail named George shriveled up and died in his tank at the University of Hawaii. He was 14 years old, which for a land snail is pretty long in the tooth (or in George’s case, radula). But in all of his years, George never sired any offspring. There […]
Hawaii has a new, game-changing tool in its renewable energy arsenal. Power producer AES Corporation and the not-for-profit Kaua’i island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) unveiled what’s claimed to be the world’s largest solar-plus-storage peaker on the island of Kauai on Tuesday, the Lāwa’i Solar and Energy Storage Project. This is a significant step to help the […]
Did you know that the U.S. is one of the most volcanic countries in the world? There are more than 160 active volcanoes in the nation—but which ones could cause the most damage if they erupt? On Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released an update of its national volcanic threat assessment for the first […]
Cauliflower coral, a bushy species in the Hawaiian Islands that has been devastated by ocean warming triggered by human-caused climate change, could soon get federal protection. The National Marine Fisheries Service Wednesday announced that listing the species may be warranted under the Endangered Species Act, based on a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity. […]
By Jason Bittel Since Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano began erupting in early May, we’ve been mesmerized, month after month, by videos depicting what can happen when molten rock dances through the air, forms gigantic rivers or crashes into a Ford Mustang. But some videos are much harder to watch—like those depicting the many homes destroyed or […]
Although Hawaii avoided a direct hit by Hurricane Lane, which weakened to a tropical storm over the weekend, areas of the Big Island were inundated with waist-deep water and flash flooding. Mountain View, located on the east side of the island, received a preliminary total of 51.53 inches of rain from Aug. 22-26—the third highest […]
Update: Hurricane Lane is now a Category 5 storm. Hurricane Lane could become the first hurricane to make landfall in the state of Hawaii since 1992, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The Category 4 storm, currently blowing 150 miles per hour at its peak, has a projected path that could either parallel or pass over […]