NATURE: Kilauea: Mountain Of Fire

Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, is the world’s most active volcano. Its latest eruption began in 1983 and hasn’t stopped. Since that time, it has created 544 acres of new land and consumed 200 homes. But as we watch nature’s own fireworks display and witness the devastation wrought by flowing lava, we’ve also been able to observe a process that’s central to life on these islands.

The most spectacular moment of creation is when lava pours into the ocean creating new land; it is here that filmmaker Paul Atkins finds himself getting a shot few have ever filmed — the cataclysmic meeting of 2,000-degree lava and 75-degree ocean water — a sight to behold.

Violent and beautiful, destructive and creative, "Kilauea: Mountain Of Fire" explores the incredible power of the volcano and the challenges of life in its shadow.

This program originally aired in 2009.

NATURE is on Facebook, and you can follow @PBSNature on Twitter.