On the 21st of August 1986 in the northwest region of Cameroon, Africa, Lake Nyos released a cloudy mixture of carbon dioxide and water droplets which had a height of 100 meters. Carbon dioxide is odorless and heavier than air which can suffocate any mammal. A limnic eruption is a natural disaster that happens when dissolved carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake waters, forming a gas cloud that can suffocate wildlife, livestock, and humans. When Lake Nyos erupted, the fog killed all living things within a 25km radius of the lake, and the area is still highly contaminated. The toxic gas mixture travelled to near towns and farms and suffocated over 1,700 people during their sleep and over 3,500 livestock. The critical factor that determined …show more content…
A negative impact is the flowers, grass, seeds, and crops all won't have any help to grow and survive by humans. Since the toxic mist killed all humans living in nearby towns and farms the plants and crops would not have had any care from the regular people. A positive impact the gas had on the environment was that all plants need carbon dioxide and water to produce food through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize nutrients from carbon dioxide and water. The mist was a mixture of carbon dioxide and water which helped the plants go through the process of photosynthesis and …show more content…
The positive impact the Lake Nyos eruption had was the help that came from so many people. People from other towns and areas that weren't affected by the fog came to help the towns near Lake Nyos. They helped clean up the dead animals and people and they comforted others who lost a loved one. The negative impact was all people and livestock in surrounding areas died. Over 1,700 people died and more than 50% of the people had family living further away from Lake Nyos who were left to grieve their terrible loss. Also, more than 3,500 livestock died which affected eating resources. This had an effect on companies who were buying those animals