Lakes strange transformation somehow takes thousands of lives in a single day
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civilization since the dawn of time has developed its own series of myths and
legends from the Greeks to the Egyptians each one of these ancient cultures
passed down all sorts of intriguing and often terrifying tales but the
mysterious Lake Nyos in Cameroon Africa just may be the source of the most
frightening story of all and it's entirely true according to rumours evil
spirits regularly emerge from the lake to scare locals one day in 1986 however
people began to pay close attention to these rumors after nearly 2,000 people
randomly suffocated near the lake at the same time here's the truth behind what
happened at Lake Nyos that fateful day more than 30 years ago for centuries
ancient civilizations like the Greeks and Egyptians hold taunting myths that
exist even in modern times but it's perhaps the enduring tale of Lake Nyos
that's the most horrifying of them all because it's true located in the
northwestern portion of Cameroon Africa Lake Nyos is a body of water that has
long been shrouded in mysterious folklore in fact it was even eerily
named the bad lake one legend told of evil spirits that would emerge and kill
people in the area fortunately that's all anyone ever thought it to be a
legend this Lake couldn't actually be deadly or haunted by spirits could it
that's what most believed until one horrible day in 1986 that changed
everything on August 21st 1986 people's worst fears
about Lake Nyos proved true even though the initial trigger was not identified
what transpired in the blink of an eye was an absolute catastrophe to say the
least that fateful day the lake actually exploded the resulting death and
destruction were absolutely devastating for the local community livestock and
wildlife in the area could it really have been the work of evil spirits to
find the truth it was important to dig deeper into the event itself when Lake
Nyos suddenly erupted it created somewhat of a small tuna half when Lake
Nyos suddenly erupted it created somewhat of a small tsunami in fact
reports claimed that it shot water upwards of 300 feet in the air it also
released a type of gas during the 22nd eruption 1.2 billion cubic meters of
carbon dioxide was released into the air causing a blanket of deadly gas to cover
the entirety of several nearby villages the gas spread so fast no one had any
time to prepare tragically almost no one in the surrounding villages survived the
horrific ordeal in the village of Neos alone only six of its 800 residents
survived the deadly blast of gas elsewhere the effects were almost as bad
the deadly gas cloud continued to spread to a 15 mile radius
killing anyone who dared go outside to investigate only those who escaped to
higher ground in the nearby mountains were able to survive the catastrophe
the results were devastating 1746 people from the villages of cha sebum nyos and
calm lost their lives additionally the disaster took the lives
of roughly 3,500 livestock while the lake changed color from its beautiful
bright blue to a muddy red so what caused this explosion to happen
well geologically Lake Nyos has always been somewhat of a scientific anomaly
formed during the 1600s it's what is known as a volcanic crater lake these
sorts of lakes are known for having extremely high carbon dioxide levels
typically this level of gas buildup is released into the atmosphere over long
periods of time and in turn is rendered completely harmless but in some cases a
lack of release can be devastating as was the case in 1986 this wasn't the
result of evil spirits it was the work of a geological event rather than
releasing the gas into the atmosphere lake nyos kept it all inside like a
massive pressure cooker just waiting for some disturbance to shake it up
modern experts suggest it was only a matter of time before it became too much
to handle over time the water became loaded with
gas not long before the eruption called a limnic eruptions a test revealed that
for every one gallon of water there were five gallons of carbon dioxide present
it was practically a bomb waiting to explode until it finally did after the
sudden eruption of gas left its fatal mark on the villages authorities have
taken more precautions to prevent similar tragic events from reoccurring
luckily they've avoided another disaster so far so what can they do to make sure
this never happens again no.not ward off evil spirits in an
effort to monitor the lake experts installed a pipe along the bottom to let
gas escape into the air as a result this pressure release causes the water to
spout into a fountain which is a spectacle
in and of itself even still scientists suggest that these precautions might not
be enough in fact some estimates say there is
currently more carbon dioxide in the lake at present than there was back in
1986 somewhat shockingly those experts claim the next disaster could be worse
than the one experienced decades ago worse still Lake Nyos isn't the only
such threat to the African countryside the nearby Lake Kovu is also a problem
and a serious potential threat it's similarly gaseous and a thousand
times larger than Lake Nyos and it's located in a more densely populated area
if it were to blow researchers and experts alike continue to do their best
despite facing a series of difficult questions how can they predict another
limnic eruptions and more importantly when will the next one take place that's
way more frightening than evil spirits