VOG???

Have you ever heard of such a thing? Me, neither! The weatherman kept saying it over and over tonight on the newscast. I knew that it had been foggy today and yesterday and maybe the day before. And, I knew that the trade winds were not blowing right now. But, I had no idea there was such a thing as VOG.

Today, Alan woke up much better. I gave him Tylenol through the night (Yuck, every 4 hours) but this morning he woke up with a normal temperature. So, we thought it would be OK to go to the beach.

At first, things were going great. Alan was running around and trying to boggie board. You know, being a kid at the beach. Then, he came over and said he was cold. He wrapped himself in a towel and laid down on my lap. Then, he laid down on the beach blanket and fell asleep. ??? And, he was coughing A LOT.

So, I left the beach (Nana and Teresa caught a ride home with my friend Lisa who joined us at the beach), got Alan cleaned up and headed to Tripler as a walk-in. His temperature was 101.5. The doctor said that there were 3 types of viruses going around the community right now and he probably had one of them. Don't worry, he shouldn't have a fever for more than a couple more days. Oh, and no school this week.

Back to the newscast. So, I went to the computer after hearing the weatherman say "VOG" five times in one sentence to google VOG. Turns out it is Volcanic Smog. Here is what Wikipedia had to say: (pay close attention to the highlighted section!)

Vog is volcanic smog formed when sulfur dioxide and other pollutants emitted by an erupting volcano mixes with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight. The term is most often applied to Hawaii, where the Kilauea volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983.

Vog is created when volcanic gases (specifically oxides of nitrogen) react with sunlight, oxygen and moisture. It is made up of a mixture of gases and aerosols, which makes it hard to study and potentially more dangerous than either on their own. Although vog has not been as extensively studied as it could be, it has been found that most of the aerosols are acidic and of a size where they can remain in the lungs where they can damage and impair their function and degrade the performance of the immune system. People who have been exposed to vog report headaches, breathing difficulties (including inducing asthma attacks), flu-like symptoms, and general lethargy. These effects are especially pronounced with children. Most studies of vog have been in areas where vog is present, and not of the effects of vog itself (in controlled conditions).

In Hawaii, vog mostly affects the western coast of the island of Hawai'i, where the prevailing trade winds blow the vog to the southwest and wind patterns then blow it north up the coast. Prolonged periods of southerly winds, however, can cause vog to affect the eastern half of the island, and sometimes the entire state as well.

Hummmmm.....