On August 21st 1986, a giant gas cloud exploded from Cameroons Lake Nyos, containing 80 million cubic metres of carbon dioxide and creating a giant 25 metre wave. The gas cloud that escaped rapidly spread across the land, effectively wiping out everything within a 25 KM radius, including over 1700 people.
The unfortunate locals and their animals were literally suffocated to death by the carbon dioxide.
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Scientists were initially baffled by the occurrence, which had only happened once previously at a nearby lake, also with fatalities.
So what did cause these lakes’ to start blowing up and wiping out the local inhabitants, and could it happen again?
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