Ella+Miller

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park displays the results of 70 million years of volcanism, migration, and evolution -- processes that thrust a bare land from the sea and clothed it with unique ecosystems, and a distinct human culture. The park highlights two of the world's most active volcanoes, and offers insights on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and views of dramatic volcanic landscapes. Quick Facts: History: Hawaii, along with the rest of the Hawaiian islands, was formed by the accumulation of lava erupting initially from a weak point or "hot spot" on the ocean floor. The plate on which the islands rest has moved to the northwest across this hot point at a rate of about 4 inches a year, and so new volcanoes and new islands have been created in a line as it moves. Thus, the Hawaiian islands to the northwest are older with less recently active volcanoes. Hawaii, home of this national park, is the youngest, and the two volcanoes in the national park--Mauna Loa and Kilauea--are still active. Superb voyagers, Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands migrated to Hawai`i over 1,600 years ago. Navigating by the sun and stars, reading the winds, currents, and the flight of seabirds, Polynesians sailed across 2,400 miles of open ocean in great double-hulled canoes. The peolpe of the Islands discovered beautiful landscape that we know call the Hawiian Islands. The extraordinary natural diversity of the park was recognized in 1980 when it was named a World Biosphere site by UNESCO and in 1987 when the park was again honored as a World Heritage site.
 * __Location:__ In Hawaii, 30 miles southwest of __[|Hilo],__ this is the home of Kilauea volcano, one of the most active volcanoes on earth.
 * __Park Size:__ 333,000 acres from the summit of Maunaloa to the sea.
 * __Genreal Climate:__ Island Weather is unpredictable. Visitors should be prepared for rain and wear layers of clothing to ensure their comfort while exploring the park.
 * __Region of the US:__ Pacific South West
 * Visitors per Year: Millions of visitors come each year to the beautiful hawaiian islands. Its an estimated 53 million world wide.
 * __Popular Sites:__ Popular sites inculde the erupting volcanoes, sandy beaches and lush forests and hills.

Videos: [] [] Environmental Issues: Hawai‘i is the only state in the United States that is subject to earthquakes, volcanism, tsunamis, and hurricanes. The dynamic nature of the geomorphic processes at work on the Hawaiian landscape, including coastal erosion, rise in sea level, seasonal high waves, and stream erosion, increases the importance of sound knowledge of the physical world underlying the tropical ecosystem. Climate and Weather: The weather in Hawaii is very consistent, with only a few degrees of change in temperatures throughout the year. This is due to the year-round warm ocean surface temperatures, which keeps the overlying atmosphere warm as well. Hawaii really only has 2 seasons, the summer months ("Kau") May to October and the winter months (Ho'oilo) November to April.

The average rainfall for coastal areas in Hawaii is between 25 and 30 inches per year, this increases as you move inland with some areas like Mt. Waialeale on Kauai receives more than 30ft or 10m of rain annually. The rainy season begins on the first of October and lasts until the end of March. Nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts look forward to the rainy season on the Hawaiian Islands during which sea turtles lay and hatch their eggs. The Big Island of Hawaii is world renowned for its abundant sea turtle population. Year round they are frequently seen swimming in the coastal waters where they feed on abundant plant life

There are about 150 distinct ecosystem types in the Hawaiian Islands. These ecosystems are so distinctive that the Hawaiian Islands constitute a unique global bioregion. These ecosystems range from tropical dry forest, to subalpine grasslands, snowy alpine deserts, to brackish anchialine pools, subterranean lava tube systems with eyeless creatures, to windswept coastal dunes. No reptiles or amphibians ever made it to Hawaii before the arrival of humans. No ants, honeybees, earthworms, parrots, hummingbirds, seagulls, pine trees, coconut trees ever made it to Hawaii naturally.The Hawaiian Islands were living laboratories of evolutionary processes that existed in isolation for almost 70,000,000 years.



Hawaii has very clean air in general. Whether it is the "least" polluted is very hard to say, as certain parts of Alaska and the mainland are also blessed with very clean air. It is true that the abundant wind and rain, plus the relatively low population help keep our air clean.

Activities: Hiking, backpacking, bird watching, camping, nature walks, wildlife viewing, hunting, interpretive programs, and auto touring.

Despite their protected status, the Park's treasure trove of species faces decimating threats. Declining habitat outside Park boundaries, invasive plants, bird malaria, wildfires, feral cats and pigs, and introduced goats, sheep, rats, mongoose, ants, and wasps are all taking a toll. To protect and restore Park ecosystems and protect cultural resources, the Division of Resources Management is dedicated to the following goals: 1. Remove alien invasive species with the primary focus on highly disruptive weeds and introduced ungulates such as sheep, goats, and pigs. 2. Restore highly altered Park ecosystems to conditions as natural as practical through extensive plantings of seedlings. 3. Restore lost biodiversity in Park ecosystems by recovering endangered, threatened, and rare species and reintroducing locally extirpated species. 4. Develop a systematic, science-based program of inventory and monitoring to better understand ecosystem populations, communities, threats, stresses, and health. 5. Maintain and expand Park partnerships with neighbors for natural and cultural resource protection to target invasive species threatening parklands. 6. Focus on recovery for four endangered species; the nene, Hawaiian petrel, hawksbill turtle and Mauna Loa silversword as flagship programs for the Park with continued monitoring of all rare and threatened plant and animal species. Learn more about Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s natural resource management programs and their resources by visiting the web links on this page.

Work Cited: [] [] [] [] Comment: You did a really good job Ella! I think this is what we were supposed to do, comment on someon else's... I like how you used color fonts and you have lots of pictures.

Lots of information nice color coordination <3 the Pictures. Plz put some videos on the page.

Really good presentation! The colors of the fonts are good, but you should add more videos and links.

im jealous that you picked hawaii when clearly i was going to do it but you did well in your presentaion although you couldve added more pictures but whos counting ^_^ besides mrs christman and myself of course Jacob Scaff- I like how you used different colors and steered away from the plain black and white. But I think that the colors at the end were a little distracting. You had a good amount of information that was organized in a way that you didn't have giant paragraphs that we had to spend time reading. You didn't have much blah blah filler information, which is good. I like the use of links eventhough the videos were a little weird, and awkward. Also, your pictures make me want to go to Hawaii.