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Sat by a contractor on the flight home the other night and he mentioned the air quality as being a deal breaker for him and his family. This conversation, albeit brief, was overflowing with food for thought. I would have never thought in a hundred years that poor air quality would be the catalyst for sending folks away from the Big. That sounds like something that might happen in LA or something! It has been on my mind since Tuesday night as I ponder this current eruption and the less than paradisiacal air quality that is bothersome all the way up the island chain. My question is, what is your breaking point? In other words after X? days of needing the windows closed and essentially being a prisoner in your own home due to bad air is it time to say basta, basta! Enough already! Any thoughts on this?[?]
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Air quality on the East side is usually pretty good given that the trade winds take most bad air off to the West side. Now if this contractor you talked to was from the Kealakekua Bay area, then it might be understandable as the vog there can be pretty thick much of the time. Most of the East side has some of the best air quality in the US most of the time. And honestly, if you get the wind blowing the wrong air at you, all you need to do is drive an hour or less to somewhere it's much better for the day.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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Did he say where he mainly worked or lived?
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I don't think I could live on the Kona side with the air being the way that it is. I used to brag about how clean the air is in Orchidland until the Kahaualea II and June 27 flows started crapping that up. But to answer your question, I don't know that I have a "breaking point". I don't know if the volcano is going to spew out more, or less, or zero vog a few days or a few years from now. I'm going to party like it's 1983.
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So Long and Thanks for All the Fish? (1984, but close enough me thinks)
On a serious note, after recently spending a week doing nebulizer treatments with a kiddo that has no history of breathing issues, we are looking at the air quality problems very closely.
A largely unresponsive Dept of Health, including the Clean Air Branch, and an "underfunded" environmental response team does not provide much reassurance that the concerns voiced here and elsewhere are being addressed.
http://m.hawaiinewsnow.com/hawaiinewsnow...d=Qo7U6l4b
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This is what we are worried about...my husband has an inflamation/drainage issue at the back of his throat. Last Doc said alergys but having lived in Puna for 4 years, makes me wonder. We are struggling right now with the issue of air quality even with plans set to return soon. May change our minds. I just hate it that there are many in Puna that can't make a change for a number of reasons and it could be very costly for their health.
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We have never and still do not notice any bad air quality over in Nanawale or Hawaiian Shores even with the current flow going on but it could be where our properties are located but we have always noticed it and felt it when we go over to Kona.
We are sticking around for as long as Pele allows us to do so!
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It seems like their isn't enough smoke from the lava&trees burning to create this amount of bad air - not to mention the amount of dust in the air , that is far worse imo.
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I live by the ocean in HPP for 25 years and the air quality has always been very good. The current flow hasn't really had much effect here. Of course every once in a long while we'll get some bad air that Kona usually gets....but seldom last for more than a day.
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Just got back from seeing the Kaiser Dr. for lung issues. She said they are seeing big spikes in pneumonia, allergy induced asthma, and the real flu, especially for kids. Many, many people are very sick right now, but it is not limited to Puna. Hilo and north of Hilo patients are also having serious respiratory issues, we haven't had good trades for an unusually long time recently, especially for wintertime, but the prediction for the tropics and subtropics from global climate change is fewer days of trade winds, so this may be the new normal.
