Fernweh

In early May 2018, a massive new volcanic event began on the Big Island of Hawaii, related to the larger eruption of Kilauea that began in 1983. Lava fountains up to 300 feet high were seen, thousands of residents were evacuated – and many homes destroyed. A lava river hundreds of feet wide flowed for miles until it entered the Pacific Ocean on the south coast of the island, forming almost 900 acres of new land.

In the photo above, the small white dot left of center at the top of the image is a full-size truck. The prevailing winds are east-to-west here and the heat and noxious gases from the flowing lava have killed all the vegetation on the right (downwind) side of the river.

Closer to the ocean, the flows had moved back and forth across the landscape, leaving behind square miles of cooled lava in an otherworldly scene of destruction.

Helicopters were limited to flying no less than 3,000 ft above ground level and, even at that altitude, the heat was impressive and the smell of sulphur quite strong.