NDPTC’s Executive Director, Dr. Karl Kim, recently co-authored with lead author Dr. Bruce Houghton, Science Director of NDPTC and creator of the AWR-233 Volcanic Crises Awareness course, a research article titled “Land, lava, and disaster create a social dilemma after the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano” that was published in the Journal Nature Communications, and is currently highlighted in Nature’s Natural Hazard Collection Portfolio on the social dilemmas following the 2018 Kīlauea volcanic eruption highlighting the complex interplay of science, policy, public behavior, and valuable lessons learned.
The unprecedented cost of the 2018 Kīlauea eruption in Hawai’i reflects the intersection of distinct physical and social phenomena: infrequent, highly destructive eruptions, and atypically high population growth, according to a new study led by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa researchers. The team assessed trends in population growth in Pāhoa-Kalapana, Hilo, and Puna using census data, and compared median cost of land and household income in these areas. “Low prices on beautiful land and a scarcity of recent eruptions led to unavoidable consequences—more people and more development,” said Dr. Houghton. “Ultimately this drastically increased the value of what was at risk in 2018, relative to earlier eruptions of Kīlauea.”
