by Raphael O’Suna

(Editor’s Note: The following was recently sent to West Coast, Japanese and Canadian newspapers.)

I write to you as a friend and as someone who works in the medical field in Hawaii. This letter comes from the island of Maui, and concerns a very serious health hazard.

With the opening of a new volcanic vent on the island of Hawaii, extremely large quantities of poison gas and toxic metals are spewed into the atmosphere every day. For a long time, only the island of Hawaii, and specifically the Kona Coast was seriously affected. The toxic plumes–thick and nasty–are almost always shrouding that part of the island. But now …

For some inexplicable reason, the normal trade winds, which kept the toxic volcanic stew, mostly confined to the island of Hawaii, have become erratically unpredictable. No one can say if this is a newly established pattern. No one can say whether or not the vog itself is altering the winds, or if melting ice is, or if seasonal fluctuations are the cause. But the result is that the remaining Hawaiian Islands are being seriously polluted.

On Maui, we have now begun to have weeks of vog. So bad has it become, that sinus infections, headaches, respiratory problems and coughs, eye problems and throat irritations are everywhere to be seen. The danger to one’s health is obvious, although no official statements can be made for political and economic reasons.

I believe everyone needs to be alerted, so that the individual can decide for him- or herself, whether or not to a trip to Hawaii is necessary or prudent. I do not believe you will receive the truth from the tourist industry or elected officials.