On your Hawaii vacation, abundant clean air will be among the best deals you’ll find. The American Lung Association state by state air quality report card lists Hawaii’s results and those of other states in the US. What you’ll find is that overall the air quality in Hawaii is excellent. An exception is the area affected by the Big Island’s Kilauea volcano, where VOG from the volcano causes a failing air quality grade.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also released its report on global air polution. The results are not good globally. Just two years ago, 12% were breathing cleaner air but now only 8% of us breathe air that meets the standards set by WHO.
Air Quality on your Hawaii vacation – results show that you’ll find some the cleanest air in America here in our islands.
No surprise, but read on for the details. While places in Alaska and other states do have clean air, Hawaii consistently ranks at the top.
Here’s why Hawaii is assured of typically clean air:
1. Frequent trade winds. There’s nothing better than this natural air-conditioning arriving from the northwest.
2. Abundant rain. Have you been caught in a warm, tropical island rain? Bliss.
3. Low population density. Not so much Honolulu, but in other island communities there’s abundant personal space.
4. Lack of industrial pollution. See the stars at night. Our favorite place is at Kokee State Park on Kauai.
5. Increasing reliance on alternative energy production. Makes sense to get energy from the sun.
On checking recently Kauai had an air quality index of 2 (the best we could find in the US), with other Hawaii locations ranking up to 34. On this index, up to 50 is considered good air quality. The only place exceeding 50 was the Big Island. On low wind days, Honolulu can also accumulate smog from automobiles, but it is generally infrequent.
Breathe fresh air, relax and unwind. On your Hawaii vacation, some of the best Hawaii deals are free.
I definitely see how counties / islands farther from Hawaii island are reported with top marks where data was collected, and much higher than my old home county of Orange in CA. Also, I much prefer warmer weather and yet … I proudly state that my new home county of Humboldt CA is rated higher than any county in HI 🙂 No VOG and far less smog in Humboldt than any HI county except maybe where Molokai and Kauai are 🙂
The VOG primarily only affects the southwest part of Big Island (around Kona). The other parts of the Big Island also have excellent air quality.
On most days we are fine on the East side of the Big Island, but on several days out of the month short time particle pollution can be quite severe here. (pm 2.6 can go up to 80 or so. Right now it is around 30-40.) This especially December – March, when the tradewind pattern changes and the vog is sucked over here.
I mean pm 2.5, of course. (Particles fine enough to pass the blood barrier.)