Saturday Morning Physics
Taming the Killer Lakes of Africa


Mar
19
2011

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  • Host Department: Physics
  • Date: 03/19/2011
  • Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

  • Location: 170 & 182 Dennison Building

  • Description:

    In the 1980s two lakes in Cameroon, West Africa, exploded and killed about 2000 people. It was found that these lakes had accumulated massive amounts of carbon dioxide, which was then released in a cloud that suffocated people up to 13 miles away. Controlled mitigation of these natural hazards is possible, and one lake has a store of natural gas (methane) worth >$100M if it can be extracted safely.