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Hawaiian Climate Changing
Island inhabitant recounts recent unprecedented storms. Says Bush
needs to rethink his response to Global Warming and take it more seriously.
Opinion
On Feb. 16, the Kyoto Protocal
goes into effect. Unfortunately, the US has no intention of participating.
I know here in Hawaii, we have been having serious weather changes in the past
few years which I believe are directly related to man-made pollution increasing
the Greenhouse effect and severely impacting the climate.
About 3 years ago, we had 37 inches of rainfall in 24 hours which, needless to
say, destroyed a number of bridges and about a mile of highway (Ka'u district,
Big Island of Hawaii). We were told that this is a "once in a hundred
year" disturbance.
Last October, the damage at the University of Hawaii from the Manoa Stream was
so great that President Bush declared it a disaster area and released federal
funds. Sixteen buildings had to be repaired.
Also, last year on Oahu, my daughter saw a tornado in the pineapple fields which
was the first time in recorded history that this has happened. A tornado in
Hawaii?? Fortunately there was no damage to homes.
This year just a month ago, our district had a terrible wind storm. I live in an
area where there are Macadamia nut orchards up to about the 1800 foot level and
then fast growing Eucalyptus trees (from New Zealand) planted to about the 2800
foot level. The Macadamia nut trees are protected by 150 foot high wind breakers
spaced between adjoining orchards. The wind damage was the worst in history;
some of the privately owned orchards suffered up to 50% loss of trees. Many
Macadamia and 60 foot tall Eucalyptus trees were blown over with their roots
pulled out, others were snapped at the base, half way up, or at the last 10
feet. After the storm, some of the ones that had been bent over fell down due to
the fact that the subsequent rain had softened the soil.
I personally experienced the storm because, though it was windy that morning, I
took a walk in the mountains up to the 2400 foot level (I live in Pahala at the
1000 foot level). On the way up, I passed through the Macadamia nut trees and
there was no damage but upon passing the 1800 foot level, I noticed that
Euchalyptus trees were beginning to fall on the road. I could hear popping
noises as the tops of the trees snapped off but I continued walking up to about
the 2400 ft. level, then went to an open field and had lunch with my dog.
Out in the open, things didn't seem too bad. On the way down, it was another
story. I could hear the constant "popping" like fireworks and became
frightened because in places where I had passed just seconds before, trees fell
in more than one instance. I can tell you that I said my prayers because I
feared for my life.
Now getting back to the ostrich-like passivity of President Bush, I would like
to say that I think that he and members of his cabinet should be remembered by
having future storms named after them. If weather in the last few years is any
indication of what will happen later on, I think that the Bush administration
should credited for their non-participation in the Kyoto agreement and thus for
helping produce more violent storms on the face of our planet than have ever
been seen in the history of our country. I also wish that there would be some
way of holding them responsible for their pretended ignorance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Adrian Akau
Pahala, Hawaii
Retired Science Teacher
SOURCES
See also
Page posted by SDA
Feb. 16, 2005
Last updated July 16, 2005
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