Eco-autopsy of the lake Nyos

disaster in Cameroon

30 years after calamity

The Nyos disaster is a terrific and unprecedented environmental

tragedy that took place on Thursday, 21st of August, 1986, at

9pm. This is a synopsis of highly specialized scientific research,

information in newspapers, documents and articles in specialized

media, information from the radio, the television or oral literature

from concerned scientists, anthropologists, sociologists or victims that

are directly linked to this geo-hazards that killed thousands in Nyos.

The goal is to pay tribute to the victims of this devastating happening

and insinuate lessons on how to avoid such a disaster. If hypercapnia

could be incriminated in this incident, it is but evident that the

meromicticity of the lake was already a great danger for the national

and international community. Can early warning signals, degasification,

delimitation of a security belt around the lake unravel this puzzle?

Lake Nyos is a suitable candidate for a UNESCO world heritage site.