Reflection

Hawai’i is known for its vast beaches, beautiful Mountain View’s, and tropical weather. Overtime climate change has been impacting Hawai’i coastlines with the rise of high tides resulting in thrashing waves onto home fronts. Meaning that huge waves can reach more inland, disrupting peoples homes and severely damaging them. My family who live on Kaua’i has seen first hand the shoreline erosion and how it has slowly chipped away at the beautiful island. It has affected more than 70 percent of the island and will continue to get smaller day by day. Sea level rise can be dangerous to our Kokua because of hurricanes and tsunamis which can damage houses and nearby farms. With these extra coastal hazards, our islands can be gone sooner than we expect if we don't take action now. Many homeowners have tried to compact the shoreline rise by using sea walls and barricades. However by pushing the water away it creates more erosion down the coast on to the next land. For my project, I wanted to do Hula which is a part of my Hawaiian culture, to tell a story of our beautiful islands. Our gorgeous beaches and lucious heritage will become extinct if we don’t do something about climate change. Expressing my love for the Hawaiian islands is super important to me, so I wanted to show that through my dance. Creating my project brought me a sense of sadness, reflecting on how much our islands have changed. I grew up here my entire life and wondering if it will still be here for future generations is frightening. I want anyone who is watching my dance to appreciate my home and how important it is to not only me but to anyone living on the Hawaiian islands. To my viewers, I hope that my hula has impacted the way you view climate change, not as a future problem but as a now problem. I learned that we can not keep pushing this issue to the near future, we have to do something about it now or else it will come sooner than we think. Not only will climate change affect the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, it will also impact our entire earth. Everyone must work collectively to battle this global problem.