Lake Kivu

In the Congo there is a lake, Lake Kivu. By crouching in the wrong area near this lake people have died. Beneath Lake Kivu’s surface (and along its shores) there are large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. People are killed instantly if they stand within an invisible bubble of Carbon dioxide.
The recent eruption of Mount Nyiragongo brought scientists attention to this lake. 392 billion cubic yards of carbon dioxide, and 78 billion cubic yards of methane are slowly building up beneath Lake Kivu. Another eruption of Mount Nyiragongo (which, conceivably, could take centuries) or an eruption of Mount Nyamulagira (which is Africa’s most active volcano) could set off a gas release!
This would be devastating. There have been two other instances like this, in the mid-1980s on a lake in Cameroon 1,700 people were killed. But Lake Kivu is hundreds of times bigger, and according to scientists the gas trapped underwater is even bigger!
This lake could possibly be a great resource for humans. Many companies want to extract Methane from the lake. And if scientists could have access to the lake and the volcanoes, they could be monitored closely and if there was a chance of an eruption or gas release something could be done. But because of war and the fact that resources are scarce in the Congo it is difficult to monitor such things.
To me this is very frightening! The fact that so many lives could be lost because political issues in the Congo prevent scientists from monitoring this lake closely is unbelievable. Another issue that arises is the ethical questions that come from letting people live so close to a lake this dangerous. Nearly 100 people die each year from being trapped in carbon dioxide bubbles, and that is a small fraction compared to the number of deaths that would come if the gas were released. How can we help these people, and how can we prevent more deaths? It is a dangerous situation, and I hope is can be resolved soon.

Kron, J. (2009, November 6). Deadly Gad Flows Add to Lake's List of Perils. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/ world/africa/06kivu.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=volcanoes&st=cse