Open AccessDegassing the “Killer Lakes” Nyos and Monoun, Cameroon
Author(s) -
Halbwachs Michel,
Sabroux JeanChristophe,
Grangeon Jacques,
Kayser Gaston,
TochonDanguy JeanClaude,
Felix Alain,
B´eard JeanChristophe,
Villevieille Adelin,
Vitter Gérard,
Richon Patrick,
Wüest Alfred,
Hell Joseph
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2004eo300001
Subject(s) - hazard , volcano , natural (archaeology) , geography , natural disaster , scale (ratio) , event (particle physics) , natural hazard , history , archaeology , geology , cartography , ecology , seismology , meteorology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
A unique humanitarian, scientific, and technical experiment is currently taking place in a forgotten mountainous region of West Africa. The experiment is on the verge of reaching its operational stage, which consists of the eradication of a “new” natural hazard; one that is potentially devastating, but which has been known for only 20 years. The Lake Nyos catastrophe, which claimed 1800 victims in August 1986, was not unprecedented. Indeed, 2 years previously a lethal gas burst, originating from nearby Lake Monoun in the same remote area of Cameroon, killed 37 people—an odd and tragic episode that went almost unnoticed. One had never before heard of Mother Nature asphyxiating human beings and most higher animals on such a scale in a single and brief non‐volcanic event.