Lago Nyos: differenze tra le versioni

Versione delle 16:30, 31 gen 2008

Versione delle 03:15, 30 apr 2008

Riga 71:

==The 1986 disaster==

[[ImageImmagine:Cow killed by Lake Nyos gasses.jpg|thumb|left|150px|A cow suffocated by gases from Lake Nyos]]

Although a sudden outgassing of CO₂ had occurred at [[Lake Monoun]] in [[1984]], killing 37 local residents, a similar threat from Lake Nyos was not anticipated. However, on [[August 21]], [[1986]], a [[limnic eruption]] occurred at Lake Nyos which triggered the sudden release of about 1.6 million [[tonne]]s of CO₂. The gas rushed down two nearby valleys, displacing all the air and suffocating up to 1,800 people within 20 km of the lake, mostly rural villagers, as well as 3,500 livestock. About 4,000 inhabitants fled the area, and many of these developed respiratory problems, burns, and paralysis as a result of the gases.

Riga 80:

== Degassing ==

[[ImageImmagine:limnic_degassing1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[France|French]] scientists working on degassing Lake Nyos.]]

The scale of the disaster led to much study on how a similar occurrence could be prevented. Estimates of the rate of carbon dioxide entering the lake suggested that outgassings could occur every 10-30 years, though a recent study shows that release of water from the lake, caused by erosion of the natural barrage that keeps in the lake's water, could in turn reduce pressure on the lake's carbon dioxide and cause a gas escape much sooner.