In 1986, a "murderous lake" emerged in Africa, killing 1,700 innocent people overnight.
This bizarre case immediately attracted the attention of the authorities.
Could it be that this lake hides a large unknown creature similar to the Loch Ness Monster?
In order to find the "real culprit", the scientific expedition team and rescue team sent by the authorities drained the lake.
On 21 August 1986, residents near Lake Nyos in northern Cameroon fell asleep as usual on a summer night.
However, after this sleep, the 1,700 people who lived here never woke up.
Because this sudden death was so bizarre, it was immediately taken seriously by Cameroon**.
In order to find out the "culprit", Cameroon arranged for scientists to find out the truth.
But why scientists, not police officers? This is because the local forensic examiner conducted an examination of the deceased and found that the deceased died at about the same time.
If it is human-skilled, then it is impossible to complete this murder except by releasing biochemical poison gas. However, the medical examiner did not detect the lethal toxin in the deceased's body.
Therefore, the help of scientists is needed to find the real "prisoner".
In addition, because this case is so outlandish, it has also attracted the attention of scientists in other countries around the world. As a result, Cameroonian scientists decided to work with international scientists in the hope of finding out the truth as soon as possible.
Although a total of 1,700 people died in the case, there are still some survivors near Lake Nyos. So, scientists also interviewed them to try to recreate that day.
According to the interviewees' recollections, they heard a loud bang that night, apparently coming from the bottom of Lake Nyos. And not long after the loud bang passed, death came with a scythe.
From the accounts of these interviewees, scientists have distilled a bold guess that Lake Nyos is "killing people".
But this statement is not accurate, it should be that some substance in Lake Nyos has invisibly taken so many lives.
After having this initial idea,Scientists took water samples from Lake Nyos and tested them, and found that the water contained excessive concentrations of carbon dioxide.
And, when scientists conducted field surveys around the lake, they also saw a hazy white smoke attached to the lake's surface. Scientists are certain that the smoke is not a fog formed by cold.
After all, it's located in Africa, with an average temperature of 25 to 34, and it's unlikely that warm and moist air will flow over the water and condense into fog.
And after coming to the conclusion that there is an excess of carbon dioxide accumulated in the lake water,Scientists have determined that the white smoke on the lake is the product of carbon dioxide gasification.
At this time, scientists suddenly realized that it was "carbon dioxide" that caused the death of the inhabitants here!
Although carbon dioxide itself is a non-toxic gas, it does not affect human health.
However, once exposed to excessive levels of carbon dioxide, humans will suffocate and fall into a state of hypoxia. If it is not treated in time, the human body will die quickly.
It can be seen that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas that can silently kill people.
However, after reaching this conclusion, scientists have raised the question: why is there an excess of carbon dioxide gas in Lake Nyos?
In order to find the answer to this question, scientists decided to use a pump to drain the lake and get to the bottom of the lake.
Soon, Lake Nyos was pumped to the bottom.
By this time, scientists had discovered,It turns out that there is a dormant volcano below the bottom of the lake, and Lake Nyos is located in the crater.
So,It's this volcano that makes carbon dioxide, and the volcano is the real one.
Although the volcano shows no signs of erupting, the magma in the volcano is still flowing slowly. In the process, carbon dioxide released from the movement of magma accumulates in the lake.
In addition, Lake Nyos is already rich in carbonates and phosphorites, which react chemically when they encounter carbon dioxide to produce gases.
It happens when the lake can't hold these gases.
That's why the inhabitants of this area would hear a loud noise from the bottom of the lake on that summer night. After that, the carbon dioxide in the lake water was forced off the surface of the water and silently approached the residents.
Because it was getting late, the residents of the lake were asleep, so they lost their lives before they knew it.
Of course, it cannot be completely unconscious, because carbon dioxide can suffocate people to death, and in the process, the sleeping residents still suffer a certain amount of pain.
With the help of scientists, the survivors near Lake Nyos learned that the real culprit was carbon dioxide gas, and they were relieved that since the carbon dioxide had erupted, the killing would not happen again.
Scientists, however, remain worried. In their view, the non-stop movement of magma at the bottom of the lake means that carbon dioxide is still being produced. In time, tragedy will still occur.
Scientists have advised locals to move to other cities. But the proposal was quickly met with opposition from residents, who saw it as their hometown where they had lived for generations, and how could it be so easy to leave behind.
Seeing that persuasion to leave would not work, the scientists had no choice but to stay and help them completely solve the hidden problem of carbon dioxide in Lake Nyos.
After many experimental attempts,Scientists have found that if a pipe could be inserted at the bottom of Lake Nyos that emits carbon dioxide, it would solve the problem of large amounts of carbon dioxide accumulating.
Although this has reduced the carbon dioxide concentration in the lake to some extent, it has not completely prevented the danger from coming.
Therefore, scientists can only continue to conduct research experiments here, and finally in 2009 they developed a siphon device.
Using siphon technology, carbon dioxide can be pumped out of the water of Lake Nyos. After the lake is free of this harmful gas, it is impossible to kill.
In addition, scientists have installed devices to detect carbon dioxide concentrations along the coast, which is also a "double insurance" set up to prevent dangers.
Thanks to the efforts of scientists, Lake Nyos is no longer a "murder lake", and the people who live here can continue to live their peaceful lives.