http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11592445
In this article by Brooks Baehr, apparently Kilauea, the Hawaiian shield volcano that's been erupting for a long time, is starting to ruin crops by means of its volcanic fog, or vog as it's lovingly known by.
The Hawaiian government has declared the situation as a disaster and tell farmers they may have to borrow as much as $500,000 to cope with the problems the volcano is causing like 2,000 to 2,500 metric tons of sulfur dioxide being emitted.
The Hawaiian farmers are losing money in the process, temporarily putting farming at a stanstill.
"'We've only got about three plants left after about 181 is what we started with and we've only got three that are trying to survive. It's also impacted our cattle as far as the grass not recovering the way it usually does,' Phil Becker told Hawaii News Now." (Baehr 1). This was a farmer who was interviewed. He seems pretty distraught.
I hope the government can step in and contact somebody who can help with this natural issue. Hawaiian islands, because they are made up of volcanic soil, are especially fertile, so when the volcanoes themselves are destroying the crops, that is not a good thing. In addition, I think Hawaiian coffee is delicious and don't want to see any sort of decline in the coffee bean production.
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