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On August 16, 1984, a group of people driving in a van near Lake Monoun (United Republic
of Cameroon) discovered a man who seemed to be sleeping on his motorcycle. When they
stopped to offer aid, they found he was dead. Only moments later, the members of the
party collapsed. Only one young man did not fall victim. The next morning, thirty-seven
corpses were found near the waters, apparently casualties of a vile chemical cloud that
had drifted out from the ordinarily calm lake.
On August 21, 1986, fifty-seven miles away, strange rumbling sounds came from Cameroon’s
Lake Nyos. As curious villagers crowded around the water, a rotten-smelling white cloud
emerged from the shore along with a bubbling sound and a huge wave. As the cloud drifted
into the crowd, the citizens felt a warm sensation and lost consciousness. A few awoke
up to thirty-six hours later, but most never did. More than 1,700 lives were lost that
night. Birds, cattle, insects, and other animals also perished, along with severely
damaged vegetation.
Later investigation revealed that the clouds were made up of carbon dioxide, a heavy gas
that suffocated the victims. It is still unknown from where the gas originated. However,
some scientists, noting that the lakes were formed over volcanic craters, think that
volcanic gases came up and bubbled out. Others think that the carbon dioxide had slowly
leaked into the lakes and remained trapped in the cold water near the bottom. When the
lake experienced a “turnover,” a normal event when cooling surface water sinks to the
bottom and warm water rises to the top, it released the contained gases. This theory
may be the more probable, for the two deadly clouds were released in August, a time when
monsoon clouds bring cool weather and a turnover of lake water.
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