Hawaii just can’t catch a rest. Although Kilauea erupted of a month ago, Hawaii’s Big Island is still feeling its effects. Lava from the volcanic eruption has completely evaporated the lake of Green Lake, the top Island’s largest freshwater lake. The evaporation began on June 2nd when lava flowed into your lake, boiling the water away. For everyone in the area, it may well have been a difficult spectacle to miss as being the boiling water was a thick white plume, reaching high in to the sky.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported that “by 1:30 p.m. [local time], the steam plume had ceased, through 3 p.m […] lava had filled the river and apparently evaporated all of the water.”
Prior to the evaporation, Green Lake — also referred to as Ka Wai a Pele — was 200 feet deep, in addition to a popular swimming spot. Now, Google Maps reviewers are mourning losing the forest, debating what steps really should be taken to its preservation or restoration, and cracking jokes about its demise.
So far, lava on the Kilauea eruption has covered about 7.7 square miles and formed a delta in Kapoho Bay. Here and elsewhere throughout the island, the eruption has made a huge effect on Hawaii’s geography and forever altered its landscape.
