In late 2001, Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was growing restless. Plumes of smoke issued from the central crater, alarming volcanologists in the nearby city of Goma. Then, on 17 January 2002, lava fountained from a fracture on Nyiragongo’s southern flank. The molten rock snaked down the sides of the volcano and razed the centre of Goma, engulfing houses and setting off a string of explosions at fuel stations and power plants. That evening, the lava streamed into nearby Lake Kivu, generating a plume of water vapour that clouded the area for days.

More than 100 people were killed and nearly 300,000 people fled their homes. The only obvious refuge for the displaced people was along the shores of the lake. But Kivu poses its own threats. Beneath its placid surface, the lake contains 300 cubic kilometres of carbon dioxide and 60 cubic kilometres of methane. A disruption to the lake — such as a bigger, closer eruption — could cause a gas burst, with potentially deadly consequences for the roughly 2 million people who live along Kivu’s shores. The risks are hard to quantify, however. Although scientists have studied the lake for decades, basic details about Kivu and its gases are still relatively scarce, and there is now debate about how hazardous the situation is.

The issue is complicated by the lake’s economic potential. The valuable methane dissolved in the water has started a feeding frenzy among energy companies working with the DRC and Rwanda, the other nation bordering the lake.

(read more @ naturenews)