Measurements at the Mauna Loa Observatory stopped after the 2022 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano, when lava flow crossed the access road and took out power lines to the facility. The observatory remains inaccessible by vehicle and without power from the local utility company.
Observatory staff has established limited solar power in four observatory buildings and restored approximately 33 percent of the measurements onsite, including the Global Monitoring Laboratory and Scripps critical CO2 records and other atmospheric measurements.
Media can contact: Theo Stein (303) 819-7409 (theo.stein@noaa.gov) or Karin Vergoth 303-632-6413 (karin.vergoth@noaa.gov)
MLO can host school groups and field trips on selected weekdays by creating interactive displays throughout the Hilo office. The displays are designed to inform, entertain, and involve the children. Many of the displays are flexible enough to be fitted to the education level of the incoming group. The following special reports are in Adobe Reader (.pdf) format, are suitable for printing, and are excellent resources for teachers interested in finding out what a visit to the MLO office entials. Please note that the Teacher section of our Education Center offers much more information on the activities we can provide, such as reports of each specific display. For more information on scheduling a school visit to MLO, see the General Visitors page.