Almanac World

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Some large fish were also kapu for women to eat. Isabella Abbott, a leading ethnobotanist of Hawaii theorizes that because of the limited "noa" (free) diet for Hawaiian women, seaweeds were relied upon more heavily for Hawaiians than other Pacific islands.

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Sacred Eating

The ʻAi kapu was the kapu system governing contact between men and women. Many aliʻi obtained their power through this system, and then would give thanks to the god of politics Kū.[2] ʻAi means "to eat" and Kapu means sacred. Therefore, it is translated to "sacred eating". It first came about because Wākea wanted to sleep with his daughter, Hoʻohokulani. To do this, his kupuna advised him to establish the ʻAi kapu which allowed him time away from his wife to be alone with his daughter.[3] In this particular practice, men and women could not eat meals together. Furthermore, certain foods such as pork (the body form of the god Lono), most types (67 of the 70 varieties) of bananas (body form of the god Kanaloa), and coconuts (body form of the god Kū) were considered kapu to women. In fact, women could not even make coconut rope. Taro (body form of the god Kāne) was kapu for women to cook and prepare. Some large fish were also kapu for women to eat. Isabella Abbott, a leading ethnobotanist of Hawaii theorizes that because of the limited "noa" (free) diet for Hawaiian women, seaweeds were relied upon more heavily for Hawaiians than other Pacific islands.[4]

The kapu system was used in Hawaii until 1819, when King Kamehameha II, acting with his mother Keopuolani and his father's queen Ka'ahumanu, abolished it by the symbolic act of sharing a meal of forbidden foods with the women of his court. Abolishing the ʻai kapu assured political power to the line of Kamehameha rulers as monarchs because it limited the power of the rulers below them. Originally, it was from this political system where the rulers throughout the island would gain rank, power, and prestige.[5]

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Mana is power

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Kapu

Kapu refers to the ancient Hawaiian code of conduct of laws and regulations. The kapu system was universal in lifestyle, gender roles, politics, religion, etc. An offense that was kapu was often a corporal offense, but also often denoted a threat to spiritual power, or theft of mana. Kapus were strictly enforced. Breaking one, even unintentionally, often meant immediate death,[1] Koʻo kapu. The concept is related to taboo and the tapu or tabu found in other Polynesian cultures. The Hawaiian word kapu is usually translated to English as "forbidden", though it also carries the meanings of "keep out", "no trespassing", "sacred", "consecrated", or "holy".

As these examples might suggest, the sense of the term in Polynesia carries connotations of sacredness as much as forbiddenness. Probably the best way to translate kapu into English is as meaning "marked off" or ritually restricted. The opposite of kapu is noa, meaning "common" or "free".

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Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea (English pronunciation: /ˌmɔːnə ˈkeɪ.ə/ or /ˌmaʊnə ˈkeɪ.ə/, Hawaiian: [ˈmɐwnə ˈkɛjə]), is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing 4,207 m (13,802 ft) above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Much of the mountain is under water; when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over 10,000 m (33,000 ft) tall, making it the world's tallest mountain from base to summit, surpassing Mount Everest. Mauna Kea is about a million years old, and has thus passed the most active shield stage of life hundreds of thousands of years ago. In its current post-shield state, its lava is more viscous, resulting in a steeper profile. Late volcanism has also given it a much rougher appearance than its neighboring volcanoes; contributing factors include the construction of cinder cones, the decentralization of its rift zones, the glaciation on its peak, and the weathering effects of the prevailing trade winds. Mauna Kea last erupted 6,000 to 4,000 years ago and is now considered dormant.

In Hawaiian mythology, the peaks of the island of Hawaiʻi are sacred. An ancient law allowed only high-ranking aliʻi to visit its peak. Ancient Hawaiians living on the slopes of Mauna Kea relied on its extensive forests for food, and quarried the dense volcano-glacial basalts on its flanks for tool production. When Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, settlers introduced cattle, sheep and game animals, many of which became feral and began to damage the mountain's ecology. Mauna Kea can be ecologically divided into three sections: an alpine climate at its summit, a Sophora chrysophylla–Myoporum sandwicense (or māmane–naio) forest on its flanks, and an Acacia koa–Metrosideros polymorpha (or koa–ʻōhiʻa) forest, now mostly cleared by the former sugar industry, at its base. In recent years, concern over the vulnerability of the native species has led to court cases that have forced the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources to eradicate all feral species on the mountain.

With its high altitude, dry environment, and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. Since the creation of an access road in 1964, thirteen telescopes funded by eleven countries have been constructed at the summit. The Mauna Kea Observatories are used for scientific research across the electromagnetic spectrum from visible light to radio, and comprise the largest such facility in the world. Their construction on a "sacred landscape"[5] continues to be a topic of debate.

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How to Avoid Hypothermia

Reduce heat loss via radiation, convection, conduction, evaporation and respiration.    

Stay dry.  Avoid getting your clothing wet-through.    

Invest in good quality clothing, particularly waterproof rain gear.    

Use your clothing properly – a large proportion of the performance of your clothing, however good it is, will come from you using it properly.  Adjusting layers, venting, donning waterproofs, using a hood, using hats, scarves and head-overs all make a big difference.  The appropriate employment of all these comes with experience.    

Take appropriate shelter with you.  Day hikers often forget this.  Even a polythene survival bag can make the difference between life and death.    

Eat plenty and often, or reduce your work rate.  Hiking trips sometimes mean long, hard days and the energy requirement is high.  Cold temperatures increase your energy requirements.    

Drink plenty.  Avoid dehydration.    

Don’t take excessive kit.  You do not want to become exhausted because you are carrying a house on your back.    

Be fit for the activity you are undertaking.  You will be less likely to become exhausted.    

Work within the capabilities of the group.  Go at a pace that suits the slowest in your group.  Any faster will over-exert them, introducing excessive perspiration into their clothing, and making them more prone to exhaustion.  If you are the leader, choose a route that is appropriate for the fitness level of the group.    

Good leadership and decision making.  Good route planning and execution, factoring in potential escape routes and being decisive yet flexible regarding route and weather conditions all contribute to the safety of the group.    

Look out for each other.  Check on your buddies.  The early signs of hypothermia are often easier to notice in others than in yourself.    

Spot signs and symptoms early.  Do something about it!    

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Stages of Hypothermia

The severity of hypothermia cases have been categorised in various ways, often into ‘mild’, ‘moderate’ and ‘severe’ hypothermia.  One way that is often seen is a categorisation based on core temperature.  For the outdoors person, a pitfall with a categorisation based on body core temperature is that it’s not possible to monitor internal body temperatures in the field (even if you are very good friends, using a rectal thermometer while on the slopes of Ben MacDui is not practical).  Further, using temperature alone as a diagnostic tool has the potential to be misleading.  A drop in core temperature will affect every part of your body’s system so we must look for the signs and symptoms of these changes:    

MILD HYPOTHERMIA

An early sign of being too cold is shivering.  Shivering increases your metabolic heat production to a level between two- and six-times that of your normal, resting rate.  This has a short term warming benefit on your body but it reduces energy stores in your body.  In the long term, this energy depletion adds to your deterioration by contributing to eventual exhaustion.  When your body detects it is starting to cool down below its normal temperature, it fairly quickly starts to shiver so it is a good early indicator of potential hypothermia.  Maximal shivering is reported to occur at a body core temperature of 35oC (95.0oF).  If you or someone else is shivering, do something about it!    

Another relatively early sign can be cold, stiff and/or white hands or feet.  This is due to vasoconstriction, a reduction in blood supply to the area.  This is one of your body’s reactions to cold, intended to keep heat in your core.  If your hands are white, cold or stiff it is a warning sign that your whole body is too cold.  Again, do something about it!  As hypothermia takes greater hold, there will likely be a significant reduction in manual dexterity which, if on your own, could mean you are no longer able to help yourself.      

Hypothermia progressively reduces mental function, the early signs of which are often missed.  The first signs are mood changes, irritability and/or social WITHDRAWAL.  This is really important but hard to spot in a group – you have to notice who isn’t noticeable; spot the one who has disappeared amongst the group.  Weather conditions can often blunt your ability to observe your companions and you yourself may be battling to cope with the elements and keep warm.    

Typical conditions under which you have to be vigilant for signs of hypothermia. Photo: Paul Kirtley.

Even mild hypothermia can reduce your ability to look after yourself or your companions.  Studies have shown even mild core cooling to temperatures in the range 34oC (93oF) to 36oC (97oF) will impair mental function.  And as you get colder, things get worse; for each one degree Celsius drop in core temperature from 35oC (95oF) to 25oC (77oF) your brain metabolism drops between 6% and 10%.  Decreased mental function translates into poor decision making, indecision, irrational behaviour, confusion and forgetfulness – all dangerous failings in the great outdoors.

Heart rate and blood pressure will likely have increased at this stage.  It won’t be possible to detect this in others, particularly since exertion and fear promote similar responses.  Nor is it likely that you will be able to discern this in yourself since it will be tangled up with other feelings and concerns; people often describe a “sense of anxiety” at this stage.    

MODERATE HYPOTHERMIA

As the victim’s body core temperature continues to drop, their mental function and physical coordination will be further reduced.  Weakness, stumbling and repeated falling are typical. They may be disorientated.  They may be forgetful or irrational.  The may appear drunk.  Their behaviour may be bizarre.    

A good way of grouping some of the increased clumsiness and uncoordinated behaviour that a hypothermia victim can go through is remembering them as “the umbles”, characterised by    

Grumbles

Mumbles

Fumbles

Stumbles

Tumbles

Shivering may still be present although there have been serious cases where the victim has seemingly progressed to stumbling, repeated falling and stupor without their companions having noticed any shivering.  This could be due to lack of observation on the part of the companions or it could be related to the victim’s hypothermia being precipitated by exhaustion.  Maybe they didn’t have the energy to shiver?  Certainly experiments have shown that once blood sugar drops below a certain level, shivering ceases.  

SEVERE HYPOTHERMIA

As they continue to cool, the hypothermia victim will range from being lethargic to losing consciousness to comatose.  Their lips and possibly fingers will be blue (cyanosis).  Shivering is likely to have ceased as they will almost certainly be exhausted.  Their temperature will plummet as the heat generated from shivering ceases.  Muscles become stiff.  As their temperature drops their pulse will slow and weaken, blood pressure will drop and their breathing rate will slow.  It may be impossible to feel a pulse.

DEEP HYPOTHERMIA

The casualty may appear dead and indeed they might be – cardiac arrest often occurs with a body core temperature between 28oC (82.4oF) and 25oC (77oF).    

Even if the casualty appears dead, however, it may be because vital signs are impossible to discern in the field.  The lowest recorded core temperature from which someone has been successfully resuscitated is 13.7oC (56.7oF).  There is an old adage “a person is not dead until they are warm and dead.”    

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Poly Over Cotton

Moisture in your clothing has several effects:

there is increased conductive heat loss;

there is a decrease in insulation;

there is increased evaporative heat loss.

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When the ambient temperature is less than 28C (82oF), unless your body is protected, you will lose heat to the environment around you.

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Hypothermia

Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below 35.0 °C (95.0 °F). Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe hypothermia there may be paradoxical undressing, in which a person removes his or her clothing, as well as an increased risk of the heart stopping.[2]

Hypothermia has two main types of causes. It classically occurs from exposure to extreme cold.[1] It may also occur from any condition that decreases heat production or increases heat loss.[1] Commonly this includes alcohol intoxication but may also include low blood sugar, anorexia, and advanced age, among others.[1][2] Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F) through thermoregulation.[2] Efforts to increase body temperature involve shivering, increased voluntary activity, and putting on warmer clothing.[2][3] Hypothermia may be diagnosed based on either a person's symptoms in the presence of risk factors or by measuring a person's core temperature.[2]

The treatment of mild hypothermia involves warm drinks, warm clothing and physical activity. In those with moderate hypothermia heating blankets and warmed intravenous fluids are recommended. People with moderate or severe hypothermia should be moved gently. In severe hypothermia extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) or cardiopulmonary bypass may be useful. In those without a pulse cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is indicated along with the above measures. Rewarming is typically continued until a person's temperature is greater than 32 °C (90 °F). If there is no improvement at this point or the blood potassium level is greater than 12 mmol/liter at any time resuscitation may be discontinued.[2]

Hypothermia is the cause of at least 1500 deaths a year in the United States.[2] It is more common in older people and males.[4] One of the lowest documented body temperatures from which someone with accidental hypothermia has survived is 13.0 °C (55.4 °F) in a near-drowning of a 7-year-old girl in Sweden.[5] Survival after more than six hours of CPR has been described.[2] In those in whom ECMO or bypass is used survival is around 50%.[2] Deaths due to hypothermia have played an important role in many wars.[1] Hyperthermia is the opposite of hypothermia, being an increased body temperature due to failed thermoregulation.[6][7] The term is from Greek ὑπο meaning under and θερμία meaning heat.

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Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.

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Almanac Wikipedia

An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and tabular information often arranged according to the calendar. Astronomicaldata and various statistics are found in almanacs, such as the times of the rising and setting of the sun and moon, eclipses, hours of full tide, church festivals, and so on.