If you’ve been hiking near the summit of Kīlauea lately in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park—especially along Crater Rim Trail between the Steam Vents and Uēkahuna—you may have noticed something surprising: bare tree branches with far fewer leaves than usual. A brown landscape where vegetation normally thrives.
Volcano Minute is a weekly audio activity or science update produced by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.
What you’re seeing is related to Kīlauea’s ongoing summit eruption, which began in December 2024 and has produced more than 40 episodes of lava fountaining.
Normally, Northeast trade winds push Kīlauea’s volcanic plume toward the Kaʻū Desert. But this winter, a series of strong Kona Low storms flipped the winds, blowing volcanic gases and the tephra erupted by the lava fountains straight across the summit area and into nearby communities.
Sulfur dioxide specifically reacts with moisture to form dilute sulfuric acid, which can burn foliage and damage leaves. Even the resilient ʻōhiʻa trees—which can temporarily close their stomata and essentially hold their breath to protect themselves—struggled under the prolonged exposure.
And falling tephra, though lightweight, was forceful enough to strip leaves off branches. Vegetation around Kilauea Military Camp and the Volcano Golf Course was especially hit hard, creating a scene is reminiscent of the landscape changes that followed the 1959 Kīlauea Iki eruption, where Devastation Trail got its name.
But there’s good news: with the return of the Northeast trade winds, the air has cleared, and new green growth is already beginning to appear. The forest beginning its recovery.
Mahalo for listening, I’m Katie Mulliken and this was your weekly volcano minute brought to you by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.