Hawaii: before / then / again

Born in fire, tempered by water and time

Before, volcanoes rose from the ocean to spew torrents of lava that created land; then came bright growth; and eventually, unless we destroy everything along with our climate, there will be beauty again.

Vermont is still reeling from devastating floods. With ghost downtowns, washed out roads and bridges, and the destruction of already limited housing, we are hard hit.

But in Hawaii, the devastation is by fire—not from Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and fire and creator of the islands—but by conditions fueled by climate change. On swaths of Maui, whole towns are ash and more than a hundred people have died along with countless wildlife, volumes of history, and dreams.

Below: Called Pele’s hair, these golden glass threads, extruded by volcanic action, blow into crevices of cooled lava.