Kīlauea & Maunaloa Update, August 5, 2021

The big news on Hawaiʻi Island this past week has been its largest wildfire in over 50 years, while unrelatedly the volcanoes continue their recent trends unchanged. First reviewing the volcanoes, we show the new imagery, monitoring data and reports courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, while annotating and adding historical context, and as usual including a live discussion of viewer questions. We discuss the fire, which burned an estimated 47,100 acres (74 sq mi or 190 sq km) from July 30-August 4, and offer some connection and comparison to recent Kīlauea eruptions. Finally, we touch on selected new research on the 2018 eruption and indexed by the USGS, as well as this week's Volcano Watch. This program is brought to you in part by a grant from the Hawaiʻi Island Strong Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation in partnership with the County of Hawaiʻi, and from smaller donations from viewers like you. https://youtu.be/4_rwOd08uZI