Lake Nyos disaster, Cameroon, 1986: the medical effects of large scale emission of carbon dioxide?

Baxter, Peter; Kapila, Mukesh; Mfonfu, D

doi:10.1136/bmj.298.6685.1437

Cited by 116 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Although some short-term and highly focused studies on tephra health effects exist (e.g. Baxter et al, 1989;Bernstein et al, 1986;Forbes et al, 2003;Hansell, 2003;Hickling et al, 1999;Ronan 1997, but see also Colquhoun's 1998 response;Samaranayake et al, 2004;Tobin and Whiteford, 2002), long-term, systematic studies of tephra-related health effects were not found. As Hickling et al (1999) point out, discernable acute health effects are not always inevitable in a population affected by tephra.…”

Section: Casualtiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to tephra fall

Spence

Kelman

Baxter

et al. 2005

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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155

168

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Abstract. Plinian and subplinian volcanic eruptions can be accompanied by tephra falls which may last hours or days, posing threats to people, buildings and economic activity. Numerous historical examples exist of tephra damage and tephra casualties. The mechanisms and consequences of roof collapse from static tephra load are an important area of tephra damage requiring more research.This paper contributes to this work by estimating the structural vulnerability of buildings to tephra load based on both analytical studies and observed damage. New studies are presented of roof strengths in the area around Mt. Vesuvius in southern Italy and of field surveys undertaken in other European volcanic locations to assess building vulnerability to tephra fall.The results are a proposed set of new European tephra fall roof vulnerability curves in areas potentially threatened by explosive volcanic eruptions along with comments on the human casualty implications of roof collapse under tephra loading. Some mitigation recommendations are provided.

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Section: Casualtiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to tephra fall

Spence

Kelman

Baxter

et al. 2005

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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155

168

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“…Although studied to a lesser degree than volcanic ash, volcanic gases also have the potential to affect the communities around a volcano (Hansell and Oppenheimer, 2004). For example, high concentrations of CO 2 can cause unconsciousness after a few minutes of exposure, which may result to seizures and death, as evidenced during the Lake Nyos disaster in Cameroon (Kling et al, 1987;Wagner et al, 1988;Baxter et al, 1989). SO 2 is a volcanic gas commonly monitored in active volcanoes as it can act as a reliable indicator of the presence of magma during unrest (Oppenheimer et al, 2014) and can be used as a tracer due to its relative ease of observation (either directly or by satellite measurements for large eruptions), and abundance in the eruption budget (between 1 and 25% per volume (Textor et al, 2004;von Glasow et al, 2009)).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical analysis of dispersal and deposition patterns of volcanic emissions from Mt. Sakurajima, Japan

Poulidis

Takemi

Shimizu

et al. 2018

Atmospheric Environment

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A B S T R A C TWith the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) in 2010, interest in the transport of volcanic ash after moderate to major eruptions has increased with regards to both the physical and the emergency hazard management aspects. However, there remain significant gaps in the understanding of the long-term behaviour of emissions from volcanoes with long periods of activity. Mt. Sakurajima (Japan) provides us with a rare opportunity to study such activity, due to its eruptive behaviour and dense observation network. In the 6-year period from 2009 to 2015, the volcano was erupting at an almost constant rate introducing approximately 500 kt of ash per month to the atmosphere. The long-term characteristics of the transport and deposition of ash and SO 2 in the area surrounding the volcano are studied here using daily surface observations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and SO 2 and monthly ashfall values.Results reveal different dispersal patterns for SO 2 and volcanic ash, suggesting volcanic emissions' separation in the long-term. Peak SO 2 concentrations at different locations on the volcano vary up to 2 orders of magnitude and decrease steeply with distance. Airborne volcanic ash increases SPM concentrations uniformly across the area surrounding the volcano, with distance from the vent having a secondary effect. During the period studied here, the influence of volcanic emissions was identifiable both in SO 2 and SPM concentrations which were, at times, over the recommended exposure limits defined by the Japanese government, European Union and the World Health Organisation.Depositional patterns of volcanic ash exhibit elements of seasonality, consistent with previous studies. Climatological and topographic effects are suspected to impact the deposition of volcanic ash away from the vent: for sampling stations located close to complex topographical elements, sharp changes in the deposition patterns were observed, with ash deposits for neighbouring stations as close as 5 km differing as much as an order of magnitude. Despite these effects, deposition was sufficiently approximated by an inverse power law relationship, the fidelity of which depended on the distance from the vent: for proximal to intermediate areas (20 km), errors decrease with longer accumulation periods (tested here for 1-72 months), while the opposite was seen for deposition in distal areas (>20 km).

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“…Extra CTD measurements were taken at Cl and C2. The spillway, an outlet of the lake, is at S. engulfed by a CO2 cloud (Baxter et al 1989), the volume of the gas released, the triggering mechanism of the outburst, and an assessment of recurrence of similar events in the future remain unsolved. It is also not clear whether the thermal and chemical structure of the lake is changing with time.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

An estimate of CO₂ flux in Lake Nyos, Cameroon

Nojiri

Kusakabe

Tietze

et al. 1993

Limnology & Oceanography

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A hstractAn outburst of lethal gas from Lake Nyos, Cameroon, killed more than 1,700 people on 2 1 August 1986. The surveys carried out so far indicate that a considerable portion of the CO, dissolved in the lake was released to the atmosphere and asphyxiated the people. We revisited the lake in December 1988. The conductivity-temperature-depth profiler (CTD) measurements and chemical analysis of the lake water revealed that temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS), and CO, content of the bottom water increased in parallel fashion, especially in the bottom layer, during the preceding 25 months. The result supports the view thdt CO1 is being supplied to the lake bottom in the form of warm, CO,-charged, mineralized water. From the increments of temperature and CO, during the period, fluxes of heat and CO, were estimated to be 0.43 MW and 1 .O Mmol yr I. The CO1 flux is large enough to saturate the lake's hypolimnion within -30 yr. In the 1988 survey, the very bottom layer of the lake was estimated to be close to saturation with CO,. Using the CO,-TDS-Si relationship and temperature dependence of the solubility of amorphous silica, we estimated the chemical composition of the warm, mineralized water; these estimates suggest the existence of a CO,-saturated fluid below the sedimentary cover.

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Lake Nyos disaster, Cameroon, 1986: the medical effects of large scale emission of carbon dioxide?

Cited by 116 publications

References 14 publications

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to tephra fall

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to tephra fall

Statistical analysis of dispersal and deposition patterns of volcanic emissions from Mt. Sakurajima, Japan

An estimate of CO₂ flux in Lake Nyos, Cameroon

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Lake Nyos disaster, Cameroon, 1986: the medical effects of large scale emission of carbon dioxide?

Cited by 116 publications

References 14 publications

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to tephra fall

Residential building and occupant vulnerability to tephra fall

Statistical analysis of dispersal and deposition patterns of volcanic emissions from Mt. Sakurajima, Japan

An estimate of CO2 flux in Lake Nyos, Cameroon

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An estimate of CO₂ flux in Lake Nyos, Cameroon