For twenty years Ive mentioned Lake Nyos in Physical Science classes to discuss super-saturation. One reason this lake is interesting is the fact that in 1986 the world thought the 1700 deaths were the result of a gas attack by terrorists. The truth was even more amazing. And in some ways more frightening. Because Lake Nyos isnt the only killer lake in the world. Plus, some killer lakes are hiding massive amounts of super-saturated methane, not just CO2. In one of the largest lakes in Africa, there is enough methane to release more energy in a fireball after a limnic eruption than an atomic bomb from WW2. More troubling is evidence in lake deposits that such explosions have already occurred. More than once. Last time was a few thousand years ago, but very few humans lived there who could survive to report the catastrophe. Today, there are roughly two million human beings living around that lake. Long pipes reach down into the depths of the lake, slowly bringing methane to the surface to sell as natural gas for those two million people. Probably not enough to prevent a catastrophe, but maybe a start.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:41:09 +0000
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