Editing Hawaii (section)

==Geography and environment==
{{Main|Hawaiian Islands}}
{{See also|List of islands of Hawaii}}
{{Main Hawaiian Islands}}

There are eight main Hawaiian islands. Seven are inhabited, but only six are open to tourists and locals. Ni{{okina}}ihau is privately managed by brothers Bruce and [[Keith Robinson (environmentalist)|Keith Robinson]]; access is restricted to those who have their permission. This island is also home to native Hawaiians. Access to uninhabited [[Kahoʻolawe]] island is also restricted and anyone who enters without permission will be arrested. This island may also be dangerous since it was a military base during the world wars and could still have unexploded ordnance.

===Topography===

[[File:Bathymetry_image_of_the_Hawaiian_archipelago.png|thumb|[[Bathymetric]] map of main Hawaiian Islands|alt=Map of the Hawaiian islands]]

The Hawaiian [[archipelago]] is {{convert|2000|mi|km|abbr=on}} southwest of the contiguous United States.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-constitutes-united-states-what-are-official-definitions |title = What constitutes the United States, what are the official definitions? |date = December 31, 1984 |publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]] |access-date = July 3, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171116081238/https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-constitutes-united-states-what-are-official-definitions |archive-date = November 16, 2017 |url-status = live }}</ref> Hawaii is the southernmost U.S. state and the second westernmost after [[Alaska]]. Like Alaska, Hawaii borders no other U.S. state. It is the only U.S. state not in North America, and the only one completely surrounded by water and entirely an archipelago.

In addition to the eight main islands, the state has many smaller islands and islets. [[Kaʻula|Ka{{okina}}ula]] is a small island near Ni{{okina}}ihau. The [[Northwestern Hawaiian Islands]] is a group of nine small, older islands northwest of Kaua{{okina}}i that extends from [[Nihoa]] to [[Kure Atoll]]; these are remnants of once much larger volcanic mountains. Across the archipelago are around 130 small rocks and islets, such as [[Molokini]], which are made up of either volcanic or marine sedimentary rock.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rubin |first=Ken |title=General Information about Hawaiian Shield Volcanoes |url=http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/haw_volc.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229054039/http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/haw_volc.html |archive-date=December 29, 2010}}</ref>

Hawai{{okina}}i's tallest mountain [[Mauna Kea]] is {{convert|13796|ft|m|abbr=on}} above mean sea level;<ref>{{cite web |title=Mauna Kea Volcano, Hawaii |url=http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanoes/maunakea/ |publisher=Hvo.wr.usgs.gov |access-date=November 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021204300/http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanoes/maunakea/ |archive-date=October 21, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> it is taller than [[Mount Everest]] if measured from the base of the mountain, which lies on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and rises about {{convert|33500|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Unke |first=Beata |title=Height of the Tallest Mountain on Earth |url=http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/BeataUnke.shtml |url-status=live |website=The Physics Factbook |year=2001 |access-date=August 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819084653/http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/BeataUnke.shtml |archive-date=August 19, 2007}}</ref>

===Geology===
{{see also|Hawaii hotspot}}
[[File:Pāhoehoe lava meets Pacific.jpg|thumb|left|{{lang|haw|Pāhoehoe}} (smooth lava) spills into the ocean, forming new rock]]
The Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanic activity initiated at an undersea [[magma]] source called the [[Hawaii hotspot|Hawai{{okina}}i hotspot]]. The process is continuing to build islands; the [[tectonic plate]] beneath much of the Pacific Ocean continually moves northwest and the hotspot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. Because of the hotspot's location, all active land volcanoes are on the southern half of Hawai{{okina}}i Island. The newest volcano, [[Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount|Kamaʻehuakanaloa]] (formerly Lō{{okina}}ihi), is south of the coast of Hawai{{okina}}i Island.

The last volcanic eruption outside Hawai{{okina}}i Island occurred at {{lang|haw|[[Haleakalā]]|italic=no}} on Maui before the late 18th{{spaces}}century, possibly hundreds of years earlier.<ref>{{cite web |title=Youngest lava flows on East Maui probably older than A.D. 1790 |url=http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1999/99_09_09.html |url-status=live |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |date=September 9, 1999 |access-date=May 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010222184841/http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1999/99_09_09.html |archive-date=February 22, 2001}}</ref> In 1790, [[Keanakakoi eruption|Kīlauea exploded]]; it is the deadliest eruption known to have occurred in the modern era in what is now the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs074-97/ |title=Living on Active Volcanoes—The Island of Hawaii, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 074-97 |publisher=[[U.S. Geological Survey]] |access-date=November 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025021343/http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs074-97/ |archive-date=October 25, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Up to 5,405 warriors and their families marching on [[Kīlauea]] were killed by the eruption.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Swanson |first1=D.A. |last2=Rausch |first2=J. |title=Human Footprints in Relation to the 1790 Eruption of Kīlauea |journal=American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting |volume=11 |pages=V11B–2022 |year=2008 |bibcode=2008AGUFM.V11B2022S}}</ref> Volcanic activity and subsequent erosion have created impressive geological features. Hawaii Island has the [[List of islands by highest point|second-highest point]] among the world's islands.<ref>{{cite web |title=Largest islands of the world |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/islands.htm |url-status=live |publisher=Worldatlas.com |access-date=April 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321164954/http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/islands.htm |archive-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>

On the volcanoes' flanks, slope instability has generated damaging earthquakes and related [[tsunami]]s, particularly in [[1868 Hawaii earthquake|1868]] and [[1975 Hawaii earthquake|1975]].<ref name="PTWC">{{cite web|url=http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/hawaii.php|title=Tsunami Safety & Preparedness in Hawaii|last=Pacific Tsunami Warning Center|date=November 12, 2009|access-date=November 12, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307231047/http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/hawaii.php |archive-date=March 7, 2011}}</ref> Catastrophic [[debris avalanche]]s on the ocean island volcanoes' submerged flanks have created steep cliffs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Le Bas |first=T.P. |chapter=Slope Failures on the Flanks of Southern Cape Verde Islands |editor-last=Lykousis |editor-first=Vasilios |title=Submarine mass movements and their consequences: 3rd international symposium |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-4020-6511-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=N. |title=Susceptibility of mid-ocean ridge volcanic islands and seamounts to large scale landsliding |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=108 |issue=B8 |pages=1–23 |year=2003 |s2cid=131282494 |bibcode=2003JGRB..108.2397M |doi=10.1029/2002jb001997 |doi-access=free | issn = 0148-0227 }}</ref>

{{lang|haw|[[Kīlauea]]|italic=no}} erupted in May 2018, opening 22 fissure vents on its eastern [[rift zone]]. The [[Leilani Estates]] and Lanipuna Gardens are within this territory. The eruption destroyed at least 36 buildings and this, coupled with the [[lava]] flows and the [[sulfur dioxide]] fumes, necessitated the evacuation of more than 2,000 inhabitants from their neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/g20264868/hawaii-volcano-eruption-2018-photos/|title=Man Whose Leg Was Shattered By Hawaii's Volcano Eruption Speaks Out|date=May 24, 2018|access-date=May 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180601073344/https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/g20264868/hawaii-volcano-eruption-2018-photos/|archive-date=June 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Flora and fauna===
{{see also|Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands|List of invasive plant species in Hawaii}}
[[File:Hawaiian monk seal at French Frigate Shoals 07.jpg|thumb|alt= A Hawaiian monk seal rests at French Frigate Shoals.|A [[Hawaiian monk seal]] seen at [[French Frigate Shoals]], located in the [[Northwestern Hawaiian Islands]], protected as part of the [[Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument]].]]
The islands of Hawai{{okina}}i are distant from other land habitats, and life is thought to have arrived there by wind, waves (i.e., by ocean currents), and wings (i.e., birds, insects, and any seeds that they may have carried on their feathers). Hawai{{okina}}i has more endangered species and has lost a higher percentage of its endemic species than any other U.S. state.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/publications/zoogoer/1995/1/hawaiisforestbirds.cfm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318100849/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/publications/zoogoer/1995/1/hawaiisforestbirds.cfm| archive-date=March 18, 2007| title=Hawaii's Forest Birds Sing the Blues| author=Howard Youth | access-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref> The endemic plant ''[[Brighamia]]'' now requires hand pollination because its natural pollinator is presumed to be extinct.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawnprop/plants/bri-insi.htm| title=Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database| access-date=December 15, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128012940/http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawnprop/plants/bri-insi.htm| archive-date=November 28, 2014| url-status=live}}</ref> The two species of ''Brighamia''—''B. rockii'' and ''B. insignis''—are represented in the wild by around 120 individual plants. To ensure that these plants set seed, biologists rappel down {{Convert|3000|foot|m|adj=on}} cliffs to brush pollen onto their stigmas.<ref>{{cite book| url={{google books |plainurl=y|id=YWTZs5fSqb8C|page=133}} |title=The Forgotten Pollinators|author1=Stephen Buchmann |author2=Gary Paul Nabhan | access-date=December 17, 2013| isbn=9781597269087| date=June 22, 2012|publisher=Island Press }}</ref>

===Terrestrial ecology===

The archipelago's extant main islands have been above the surface of the ocean for less than 10{{spaces}}million years, a fraction of the time [[biological colonization]] and evolution have occurred there. The islands are well known for the [[biodiversity|environmental diversity]] that occurs on high mountains within a trade winds field. Native Hawaiians developed complex horticultural practices to utilize the surrounding ecosystem for agriculture. Cultural practices developed to enshrine values of environmental stewardship and reciprocity with the natural world, resulting in widespread biodiversity and intricate social and environmental relationships that persist to this day.<ref name="LaDuke 1999">{{Cite book |last=LaDuke |first=Winona |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41572567 |title=All our relations : native struggles for land and life |date=1999 |publisher=South End Press |isbn=0-89608-600-3 |location=Cambridge, MA |oclc=41572567}}</ref> On a single island, the climate around the coasts can range from dry tropical (less than {{convert|20|in|mm|disp=or|sp=us}} annual rainfall) to wet tropical; on the slopes, environments range from [[tropical rainforest]] (more than {{convert|200|in|mm|disp=or|sp=us}} per year), through a [[temperate climate]], to [[Mountain|alpine]] conditions with a cold, dry climate. The rainy climate impacts [[Soil mechanics|soil development]], which largely determines ground permeability, affecting the distribution of streams and [[wetlands]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fletcher |first1=Charles H. |last2=Murray-Wallace |first2=Colin V. |last3=Glenn |first3=Craig R. |last4=Sherman |first4=Clark E. |last5=Popp |first5=Brian |last6=Hessler |first6=Angela |title=Age and Origin of Late Quaternary Eolianite, Kaiehu Point (Moomomi), Molokai, Hawaii |journal=Journal of Coastal Research |date=2005 |pages=97–112 |jstor=25736978 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-1-4831-9842-2.50022-5 |chapter=Halloysite and Gibbsite Formation in Hawaii |title=Clays and Clay Minerals |year=1962 |last1=Bates |first1=Thomas F. |pages=315–328 |isbn=978-1-4831-9842-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70160871 |title=Geology and ground-water resources of the island of Kauai, Hawaii |journal=Hawaii Division of Hydrography Bulletin |volume = 13|first1=Gordon A. |last1=Macdonald |first2=Dan A. |last2=Davis |first3=Doak C. |last3=Cox |date=May 27, 1960 |page=3 |bibcode=1960usgs.rept....3M |via=pubs.er.usgs.gov}}</ref>

===Protected areas===

[[File:Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nā Pali Coast State Park]], Kauaʻi]]

Several areas in Hawai{{okina}}i are under the [[National Park Service]]'s protection.<ref>{{cite web | title = Hawaii | publisher = National Park Service | access-date = July 15, 2008 | url = http://www.nps.gov/state/HI | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080703061043/http://www.nps.gov/state/hi/ | archive-date = July 3, 2008 | url-status = live }}</ref> Hawaii has two national parks: [[Haleakalā National Park]], near [[Kula, Hawaii|Kula]] on Maui, which features the dormant volcano Haleakalā that formed east Maui; and [[Hawaii Volcanoes National Park]], in the southeast region of Hawai{{okina}}i Island, which includes the active volcano Kīlauea and its rift zones.

There are three [[national historical park]]s: [[Kalaupapa National Historical Park]] in Kalaupapa, Moloka{{okina}}i, the site of a former leper colony; [[Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park|Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park]] in [[Kailua, Hawaii County, Hawaii|Kailua-Kona]] on Hawai{{okina}}i Island; and [[Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park|Pu{{okina}}uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park]], an ancient place of refuge on Hawai{{okina}}i Island's west coast. Other areas under the National Park Service's control include [[Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail]] on Hawai{{okina}}i Island and the [[USS Arizona Memorial|USS ''Arizona'' Memorial]] at [[Pearl Harbor]] on O{{okina}}ahu.

President [[George W. Bush]] proclaimed the [[Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument]] on June 15, 2006. The monument covers roughly {{convert|140000|mi2|km2}} of reefs, atolls, and shallow and deep sea out to {{convert|50|mi|km|-1}} offshore in the Pacific Ocean—an area larger than all the national parks in the U.S. combined.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?content_item_id=3417&content_type_id=15&issue_name=Protecting%20ocean%20life&issue=16&page=15&name=Op-eds%20%28Pew%29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930183659/http://www.pewtrusts.org/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?content_item_id=3417&content_type_id=15&issue_name=Protecting%20ocean%20life&issue=16&page=15&name=Op-eds%20%28Pew%29 |archive-date=September 30, 2006 |title=Treasure Islands |author=Joshua Reichert and [[Theodore Roosevelt IV]] |date=June 15, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Climate===
{{see also|List of Hawaii tornadoes|List of Hawaii hurricanes|Climate of Hawaii}}
[[File:ISS067-E-149917 Hawaii.jpg|thumb|Partly [[Cloud cover|cloudy]] conditions and a gentle breeze at 1:43 PM [[Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone|HDT]];<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/hi/honolulu/PHNL/date/2022-6-24 |title=Honolulu, HI Weather History: June 24, 2022 |work=wunderground.com}}</ref> north is oriented towards the lower right in this photo taken from the [[International Space Station]] on {{nowrap|June 24, 2022}}]]

Hawai{{okina}}i has a [[tropical climate]]. Temperatures and humidity tend to be less extreme because of near-constant [[trade winds]] from the east. Summer highs reach around {{convert|88|F|C}} during the day, with lows of {{Convert|75|F|C}} at night. Winter day temperatures are usually around {{convert|83|F|C}}; at low elevation they seldom dip below {{convert|65|F|C}} at night. Snow, not usually associated with the tropics, falls at {{convert|4200|m|ft|order=flip}} on Mauna Kea and [[Mauna Loa]] on Hawaii Island in some winter months. Snow rarely falls on Haleakalā. [[Mount Waialeale|Mount Wai{{okina}}ale{{okina}}ale]] on Kaua{{okina}}i has the second-highest average annual rainfall on Earth, about {{convert|460|in|mm}} per year. Most of Hawaii experiences only two seasons; the dry season runs from May to October and the wet season is from October to April.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/pages/climate_summary.php |title=Climate of Hawaii |publisher=Prh.noaa.gov |access-date=November 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101041503/http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/pages/climate_summary.php |archive-date=November 1, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Overall with [[climate change]], Hawai{{okina}}i is getting [[Drought|drier]] and [[Global warming|hotter]].<ref name=HawaiiGettingDrier>{{cite web|url=https://climate.hawaii.gov/hi-facts/rain/#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%20the,species%20found%20only%20in%20Hawaiʻi.|title=Less & Heavy Rain|publisher=State of Hawaii|access-date=June 11, 2023}}</ref><ref name=HawaiiGettingHotter>{{cite web|url=https://climate.hawaii.gov/hi-facts/temperature/|title=Rising temperatures|publisher=State of Hawaii|access-date=June 11, 2023}}</ref> The warmest temperature recorded in the state, in [[Pahala]] on April 27, 1931, is {{convert|100|°F}}, tied with [[Alaska]] as the lowest record high temperature observed in a U.S. state.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records|title=State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC)|publisher=US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Centers for Environmental Information.|access-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221174428/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records|archive-date=February 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Hawai{{okina}}i's record low temperature is {{convert|12|°F}} observed in May{{spaces}}1979, on the summit of [[Mauna Kea]]. Hawai{{okina}}i is the only state to have never recorded subzero Fahrenheit temperatures.<ref name=":0" />

Climates vary considerably on each island; they can be divided into [[windward and leeward]] (''ko{{okina}}olau'' and ''kona'', respectively) areas based upon location relative to the higher mountains. Windward sides face cloud cover.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wrcc.dri.edu/Climate/narrative_hi.php |title=Climate of Hawaii |publisher=Western Regional Climate Center |access-date=26 June 2022}}</ref>

=== Environmental issues ===
Hawaii has a decades-long history of hosting more military space for the United States than any other territory or state.<ref name="Takumi 1994 8–9">{{cite journal |last=Takumi |first=Roy |date=1994 |title=Challenging U.S. Militarism in Hawai{{okina}}i and Okinawa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41555279 |journal=Race, Poverty & the Environment |volume=4/5 |issue=4/1 |pages=8–9 |jstor=41555279 |issn=1532-2874}}</ref> This record of military activity has taken a sharp toll on the environmental health of the Hawaiian archipelago, degrading its beaches and soil, and making some places entirely unsafe due to [[unexploded ordnance]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blackford |first=Mansel G. |date=2004-09-01 |title=Environmental Justice, Native Rights, Tourism, and Opposition to Military Control: The Case of Kaho'olawe |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3660711 |journal=Journal of American History |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=544–571 |doi=10.2307/3660711 |jstor=3660711 |issn=0021-8723}}</ref> According to scholar [[Winona LaDuke]]: "The vast militarization of Hawaii has profoundly damaged the land. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are more federal hazardous waste sites in Hawaii – 31 – than in any other U.S. state."<ref>{{Cite book |last=LaDuke |first=Winona |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/946165345 |title=All our relations : Native struggles for land and life |date=2017 |isbn=978-1-60846-661-0 |location=Chicago |oclc=946165345 |page=173}}</ref> Hawaii State Representative [[Roy Takumi]] writes in "Challenging U.S. Militarism in Hawai{{okina}}i and Okinawa" that these military bases and hazardous waste sites have meant "the confiscation of large tracts of land from native peoples" and quotes late Hawaiian activist George Helm as asking: "What is national defense when what is being destroyed is the very thing the military is entrusted to defend, the sacred land of Hawai{{okina}}i?"<ref name="Takumi 1994 8–9"/> Contemporary Indigenous Hawaiians are still protesting the occupation of their homelands and environmental degradation due to increased militarization in the wake of [[9/11]].<ref name="Kauanui 2004 145–150">{{Cite journal |last=Kauanui |first=J. Kehaulani |date=2004 |title=Hawai{{okina}}i in and out of America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20132459 |journal=Mississippi Review |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=145–150 |jstor=20132459 |issn=0047-7559}}</ref>

After the rise of sugarcane plantations in the mid 19th century, island ecology changed dramatically. Plantations require massive quantities of water, and European and American plantation owners transformed the land in order to access it, primarily by building tunnels to divert water from the mountains to the plantations, constructing reservoirs, and digging wells.<ref name="MacLennan 2004 37–62">{{cite journal |last=MacLennan |first=Carol |date=2004 |title=The Mark of Sugar. Hawai{{okina}}i's Eco-Industrial Heritage |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20761975 |journal=Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung |volume=29 |issue=3 (109) |pages=37–62 |jstor=20761975 |issn=0172-6404}}</ref> These changes have made lasting impacts on the land and continue to contribute to resource scarcity for Native Hawaiians today.<ref name="MacLennan 2004 37–62"/><ref name="Huard">{{cite web |last=Huard |first=Mallory |date=2019-11-12 |title=In Hawaiʻi, Plantation Tourism Tastes Like Pineapple |url=https://edgeeffects.net/dole-pineapple-plantation/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Edge Effects |language=en-US}}</ref>

According to Stanford scientist and scholar Sibyl Diver, Indigenous Hawaiians engage in a reciprocal relationship with the land, "based on principles of mutual caretaking, reciprocity and sharing".<ref name="Diver 2019 400–429">{{cite journal |last1=Diver |first1=Sibyl |last2=Vaughan |first2=Mehana |last3=Baker-Médard |first3=Merrill |last4=Lukacs |first4=Heather |date=2019 |title=Recognizing "reciprocal relations" to restore community access to land and water |journal=International Journal of the Commons |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=400–429 |doi=10.18352/ijc.881 |jstor=26632726 |s2cid=150684636 |issn=1875-0281|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019IJCom..13..400D }}</ref> This relationship ensures the longevity, sustainability, and natural cycles of growth and decay, as well as cultivating a sense of respect for the land and humility towards one's place in an ecosystem.<ref name="Diver 2019 400–429"/>

The tourism industry's ongoing expansion and its pressure on local systems of ecology, cultural tradition and infrastructure is creating a conflict between economic and environmental health.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=John S. |title=Hawaiian Tourism: Costs, Benefits, Alternatives |date=1975 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45030035 |journal=Alternatives |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=34–39 |jstor=45030035 |issn=0002-6638}}</ref> In 2020, the Center for Biological Diversity reported on the plastic pollution of Hawaii's Kamilo beach, citing "massive piles of plastic waste".<ref>{{cite web |title=EPA: Waters Around Two Hawaii Beaches Impaired by Plastic Pollution |url=https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/epa-waters-around-two-hawaii-beaches-impaired-plastic-pollution-2020-07-16/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Center for Biological Diversity}}</ref> [[Invasive species]] are spreading, and chemical and pathogenic runoff is contaminating groundwater and coastal waters.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mortz |first1=David |last2=Ray |first2=Chittaranjan |last3=Jain |first3=Ravi K. |date=2005-01-01 |title=Major environmental problems facing the Hawaiian Islands: management, policy, and technology transfer options |url=https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJTTC.2005.005796 |journal=International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=79–104 |doi=10.1504/IJTTC.2005.005796 |issn=1470-6075}}</ref>