Lake Nyos Disaster 20 Years After (III): Is the Thermonuclear Device Theory Plausible?

Culled from Anthony D'Amato & Kirsten Engel (eds.). International Environmental Law Anthology (Chapter 10).

(2) Manipulation of Land/Water Systems

Possible manipulations of land and its water systems for military or hostile purposes will include: triggering earthquakes, tsunamis (seismic sea waves), landslides, quiescent volcanoes or lakes; destruction of water containments, nuclear plants, oil wells, etc.; and torching land, forest, vegetation, etc.

Most of these phenomena are capable of releasing vast amounts of potential energy with powerful forces and destructive consequence for man and his environment. Some of these have been actually used in the surprise attack arsenal of military forces, while others still remain within the realm of scientific conjectures and military fantasy.

The question has been raised whether earthquakes can be triggered in enemy territory. It has been suggested that this is possible through the action of a nuclear explosion detonated at a depth of 5 kilometers or more, releasing a sticking point, which would cause significant earth tremors. An underwater nuclear explosion at the Continental Shelf might also generate a tsunami.

In a closely related manner, it is quite possible to trigger quiescent volcanoes or lakes for hostile purposes with a nuclear bomb of one-ten kilotons, penetrating a depth of about one hundred meters to spark explosive eruptions of lava or gases as well as a violent injection of dust into the atmosphere. In one spectacular instance, late in the night of August 21, 1986, Lake Nyos, in Northern Cameroun, erupted, boiled at very high temperatures, overflowed its banks, and emitted poisonous gases. It took a disastrous toll on human, animal, and plant life in all the villages through which the ``wind of death'' swept. The deadly gases which included carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulphide, or cyanide gas, killed over eighteen hundred people and almost all the animals in these villages were decimated. Crops were also destroyed. Although the incident was "officially'' ascribed to the natural eruption of toxic gases from Lake Nyos, there is a suggestion in certain quarters that the incident might be connected with nightime covert military testing of some unconventional military weapons, an act which the United Nations has sought to discourage and urged nations to refrain from doing. It has not been possible to confirm this suggestion.

American, Israeli, and French teams of geologists who carried out an on-the-spot survey of the disaster did not rule out the possibility of Lake Nyos erupting again.

The first such disaster occurred in 1984, when Lake Manoum, also in Northern Cameroun, erupted, emitting cyanide gas which killed thirty-seven people. In the northwest region of Cameroun, there are twenty such volcanic lakes capable of emitting these toxic gases.

The environmental damage consequent upon such disasters is always enormous, as demonstrated by the Lake Nyos incident. The "Dead Land'' is a perfect allegory to describe the affected areas in the aftermath of this incident. The once fertile lands in the Camerounian villages of Sobum, Chah, Koshing, and Nyos lay barren and defoliated, with charred remains of burnt crops and carcasses of rotting animals. Survivors of the disaster who were evacuated complained of heartburn, eye lesions, and neurological problems such as monoplegia, a condition that affects one muscle or group of muscles, one limb or one part of the body, and paraplegia, paralysis of the lower part of the body and limbs.

Overt or covert military operations will continue to take advantage of such potentially unstable terrain represented by quiescent volcanoes or lakes. According to scientists, a surface or subsurface burst of a nuclear bomb, perhaps one hundred kilotons, would generate vibrations that would result in considerable regional damage to the environment.

Worldwide, it is estimated that there are perhaps 750 volcanoes classified as being active. They are quiescent most of the time but erupt occasionally at unpredictable times. These are located mostly in the Pacific Ocean basin, the Mediterranean region, and the Mid-Atlantic ridge in Antarctica. They pose a threat to the human environment, particularly because some of these have the potential to alter the weather and climate on a hemispheric and possibly a global scale. Scientists have confirmed that whether or not an eruption is imminent can now be recognized (i.e. monitored) in advance by remote seismic instruments.

The chances are therefore high that military commanders either covertly or overtly could seize advantage of that brief period when a quiescent volcano or lake would be vulnerable to triggering for hostile manipulation. (193).

Anthony D'Amato is a Leighton Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law.

Kirsten Engel is a Professor of Law at the University of Arizona College of Law.

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Comments

[ABS]

Trigger mechanism of the limnological catastrophes on lake "MONOUN" in 1984 and on lake "NYOS" in 1986.

http://www.nyos.lv/?l=2&m=1

“… , trigger mechanism of the limnological catastrophes, who be happened in CAMEROON on lake "MONOUN" in 1984 and on lake "NYOS" in 1986 , was switched on by influence of the atmospheric precipitations in 1983.
Limnological catastrophes on lake "MONOUN" in 1984 and on lake "NYOS" in 1986, were caused by the instantaneous ejections of the gaseous carbon dioxide from the sediment stratums under the lake’s bottom.
The Degassing the waters of the lakes "NYOS" and "MONOUN" can not prevent from the repetition in lakes "NYOS" and "MONOUN" of the limnological catastrophes, similar to the catastrophes of 1984 and of 1986 , in which the trigger mechanism was switched on by the influence of the atmospheric precipitations.
Under influence of the atmospheric precipitation the trigger mechanism of the the limnological catastrophes in the lake "Nyos" and the "Monoun" , in any time may to be switched on and in a certain time hereon will happen of the limnological catastrophes.”
ABS

[Che Sunday]

Lets play the devil's advocate and assume that the lake Nyos disater was made made i.e. the detonation of a nuclear device. The first question that comes to mind is, by who?
Cameroon is not on the U.N's nuclear watch list. Our neighbors, Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon and Congo are neither. So, who are the most likely candidates. France and or Isreal. Isreal will be the least likely candidate in this cenario. France is the most plausible.
Why? She is the one member of the nuclear club who continues fighting Green Peace over the testing of its nuclear weapons on land. Cameroon being its prized possession in that region and so woefully governed is a potential spot for testing such a device. Presently, it is France who has installed monitoring devices on the lake,information gathered,using electronical automation, is relayed to France for analysis.
Before we start pointing accusing fingers at anybody, lets stop and look back a bit. The gases emitted by the eruption are said to be carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide or cynide. Which of these gases are also generated by the explosion of a nuclear device? We know that they occur naturally and an over presence in a given location is not uncommon. This has been observed in Tanzania. So, until we can positively identify a form of gas uniquely associated with nuclear testing, it will be difficult to speak with absolute certainty that there was foul play. The lake Nyos disaster brought in Scientists from France, Japan, the United States and Isreal. If it were a man made disaster, one of these countries would have been able to speak out. Lets bury this theory.
Finally, lake Nyos is in the North West Province of Cameroon, not Northern Cameroon as stated in the article.

[paulo laurent]

LAKE NYOS WAS A NUCLEAR WEAPONT TEST BY THE ISREALIS. WHO PAID PAUL BIYA 5M DOLLARS FOR IT, PLEASE READ POSTWATCH MAGAZINE. THATS WHY SHIMON PERES WAS IMMEDIATELY ON SITE TO SEE FIRST HAND THE RESULTS OF THEIR TEST

[paulo laurent]

lake nyos is paul biya genocide against 7m british southern cameroonians, whom he hated very much

WITHOUT THE UNIFICATION OF 7M BRITISH SOUTHERN CAMEROONS AND 10M LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN IN 1961, THERE WONT HAD BEEN ANY LAKE NYOS. QUD