Kaʻū News Briefs, Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Mauna Loa Observatory image from its webcam this evening, where the highest CO2 levels in human history were recently recorded, setting off a new alarm about global warming. Image from Mauna Loa Observatory

GREENHOUSE GAS CARBON DIOXIDE has reached its highest concentration since humans evolved, according to conclusions drawn from measurements on May 11 at Mauna Loa Observatory. Mauna Loa hosts the oldest greenhouse gas measuring station, founded in 1958, alerting scientists worldwide to the threats of climate change.
     Scripps Institution of Oceanography chose Hawaiʻi Island to set up its station because of its distance from pollution on the Earth's continents. Vegetation, which can interfere with air quality tests, is sparse around Mauna Loa Observatory, making it one of the best scientific stations to measure CO2 on the planet. Dr. Charles Keeling, whose scientific research led to the discovery of global warming, is the namesake of the Keeling Building at Mauna Loa Observatory.
     Meteorologist Eric Hothouse said, "This is the first time in human history our planet's atmosphere has had more than 415 PPM CO2. Not just in recorded history, not just since the invention of agriculture 10,000 ears ago. Since before modern humans existed millions of years ago. We don't know a planet like this."
     Scientists conclude that human activity is causing the rise of CO2 levels and temperatures with the burning of fossil fuels. The C02 levels also reached this level some 2.5 to 5 million years ago during the Pliocene Epoch, when Arctic sea ice retreated.
     The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned last year that the planet could warm by 1.5 C by 2052 and 3 C by the end of 2200, making Earth a profoundly different place, with no coral reefs, massive extinctions, and destructive heat waves and wildfires. Some islands and coastal areas would become inhabitable. Limiting global warming to 1.5 C "would require rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society," said the report.
     The Mauna Loa atmospheric CO2 concentration measurements taken since 1958 constitute the largest continuous record of atmospheric CO2 available in the world, according to Scripps Institute

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Recent image of Kīlauea Crater captured byBig Island Video News from USGS film.

A SHORT TIME FRAME TO FOREWARN THE NEXT ERUPTION of Kīlauea volcano is expected when – not if – it erupts again, report U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory scientists. Yesterday's weekly update on the active volcano confirms Kīlauea remains at NORMAL/GREEN status, and that it is not erupting.
     However, since early March, tiltmeters at the summit have recorded modest inflationary tilt. Over about the same time period, a GPS station within the 2018 collapse area recorded approximately 3 inches (5 cm) of uplift. Satellite radar data (InSAR) show "deformation consistent with inflation of the shallow Halemaʻumaʻu source, confirming the trends noted by both tiltmeters and GPS," said HVO. "One possible interpretation is that magma has begun to slowly accumulate within the shallow portion of the Kīlauea summit magma system, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) below ground level. Gas measurements have yet to indicate significant shallowing of large volumes of melt. HVO continues to carefully monitor gas output at the Kīlauea summit and East Rift Zone for important changes."
     Further east, GPS stations and tiltmeters continue to show motions consistent with refilling of the deep East Rift Zone magmatic reservoir in the broad region between Puʻu ʻŌʻō and Highway 130, said HVO. This trend has been observed since the end of the 2018 eruption, said HVO, "and while its significance is unclear, monitoring data do not suggest any imminent change in volcanic hazard for this area."

Tiltmeter registration at Kīlauea summit over last two days. USGS image

     Monitoring data over the past nine months show "relatively low rates of seismicity, deformation, and sulfur dioxide emissions at the summit and East Rift Zone, including the area of the 2018 eruption," said HVO. No significant changes in volcanic activity were observed over the past week, and "generally low seismicity" continues across the volcano, with earthquakes occurring primarily in the summit and south flank regions.

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