An analysis was published on Friday that revealed there’s a terrifying and very deadly threat that exists right out in the open that could potentially result in the silent snuffing out of countless human lives, and it’s one that writer Kay Smythe of The Daily Caller has been trying to warn folks about for a long, long time now. Almost a decade to be exact. Smythe revealed in her latest piece she first broached the topic during a presentation while she was attending university.
In the article she mentions that one of the most dangerous regions in the world is located along the banks of Lake Kivu which is in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. No, she’s not talking about the humanitarian crisis that has plagued that specific section of the globe. Rather, Smythe is referring to limnic eruption, a silent and especially deadly threat to humanity.
Lake Kivu is not a normal body of water. It is so intensely saturated with dissolved carbon dioxide and methane that it could “explode” at any time. But not how you think, nor how LiveScience described it. Imagine this: you wake up on the top bunk of your bed. Things are quiet. Too quiet. You jump down and find your family, animals, neighbors, their bodies strewn throughout your home and the surrounding area. You try to scream but the world is going white. And then you’re dead.
Two major limnic eruptions have occurred in the last 40 years: Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, both in Cameroon. More than 3,000 cattle and 1,700 to 1,800 people died in the former, while 37 people were killed in the latter. But both of these lakes are tiny in comparison to Kivu. Lake Nyos is 390 acres. Kivu is 667,184 acres.
A man walks past dead cattle after the gas eruption of Lake Nyos, Cameroon, 1986. This seemingly harmless blue freshwater crater lake killed over 1,700 people and all animal life in the surrounding area in one of the strangest natural disasters of all time.#History pic.twitter.com/MQUhsi2eRZ
— Olaudah Equiano® (@RealOlaudah) October 19, 2021
Adding to the danger this area poses is how close it lies to Mount Nyiragongo, which is an active and very dangerous stratovolcano. Also, do not ask me how to pronounce this mountain’s name. I haven’t the slightest clue. That’s the beauty of writing. I don’t have to try to pronounce foreign locations and make a fool of myself. .
Back in 1977, Mount Nyiragongo spewed lave through cracks and fissures all down its flank that traveled at a speed of more than 60 mph, which is the fastest ever recorded in human history. Impressive, but terrifying, as much of nature usually is.
“And, yes, it is my opinion that a serious eruption, earthquake or even ongoing harmonic tremors from a smaller eruption could be enough to dislodge the gases in Kivu, suffocating the potentially over two million people who live on its shores. But those aren’t the only risks,” Smythe writes.
“When the lake reaches 100% saturation [in the bottom layer] — and it is currently somewhere over 60% — it will erupt spontaneously,” Hydragas Energy engineer and founder Philip Morkel, who hopes to help remove the gas before thisdisaster hits, said during an interview with National Geographic.
Morkel then told the publication that any person who found themselves in that cloud would likely be dead within a minute. Again, that is absolutely horrifying. And what makes it all the more scary is this sort of thing is unpredictable.
Residents of the region already have to contend with mazukus, the Swahili word for “evil wind.” These pockets of gas leach through the ground, “forming invisible and sometimes deadly pools, especially on windless nights,” The Guardian described. Victims often report feeling sick and dizzy, and then tend to collapse and die.
Smythe then closes out her piece by telling readers that while they’re enjoying the weekend and watching the crap storm that is American politics, take a moment to remember how fortunate we all are to be living here.
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