Limnic Eruptions: When Lakes Explode

[@SanahSaysHello]

What a breathtaking lake.

[@crackedemerald4930]

Sanah badum tss...

[@darcybrummett7004]

Literally

[@TheRatLiker]

This man predicted keanu reeves 6 years ago (2015)

[@tiromandal6399]

@@TheRatLiker Lol

[@theoortcloud742]

What a breathlaking take.

[@thebagelbomb]

"Most lakes don't explode." Oh, how comforting.

[@care_bear6116]

Yeahh

[@Happyfortunestudio]

Lol for real

[@Happyfortunestudio]

@@care_bear6116 for

[@peyton5892]

😹

[@melodiefrances3898]

Yes it is. In truth, extremely few do.

[@markbtw7987]

You're telling me that 1700 people were just going about their day and suddenly found themselves unable to breath until they all suffocated to death? That's not terrifying at all...

[@user-um7tw6kx4r6]

Out Of Place Ninja sarcasm...you missed it....

[@catalinastarke4010]

this happened in the evening, around 930

[@anarchyantz1564]

Most of them were asleep as it occured at night so they were suffocated in their sleep. Oh and if you think you can outrun this odourless, tasteless and invisible cloud moving at 50 Kmh then good luck.

[@ngwaneville7882]

Its true I witnessed it my family died from it.

[@jenshub]

You can still breathe in CO2 but since it’s pure CO2 and since your body hates CO2 it will probably just shut down with one whiff

[@nguyenthanhsu9135]

If this had been back in the past, people would have feared and worshiped the hell out of that lake.

[@Skidboy7]

Su Nguyen I'm pretty sure there was an old legend about it. The local legend was that an evil spirit or a monster lived in the lake and would come out at night to kill anyone who lived too close to the lake. One of the local groups, the Bafmen, settled in the high ground near the lake due to the legends. Different groups moved into the area in the mid 1900's and lived closer to the water's edge, disregarding the customs of the Bafmen. In 1986, nearly 1,500 people living near the lake were found dead. Those who lived in the higher ground were fine.

[@ПетърЖотев-п4р]

No, they won't because they will be dead

[@Periwinkleaccount]

@@ПетърЖотев-п4р someone would probably see the dead bodies.

[@Oceanman42]

"Hey... how'd you die?" "Just walking on the beach and the lake exploded" "lmao no srsly"

[@kavipatel8123]

Ryan King L0L

[@cm8692]

Stupid deaths stupid deaths their funny cause theyre trueee

[@neilisbored2177]

Quality Lake

[@nononsense1500]

Oh there's a lake on the beach

[@maxatwood3028]

humans are so fucking clever. It's like, well shit, that lakes gonna explode and kill everyone... let's use it to power our playstations!

[@Boredman567]

Something I only learned recently: Apparently there were a sizeable number of survivors, and they've described experiencing respiratory distress, passing out overnight, and waking up to find half their family dead. I assume the farther they were from the explosion the lesser their chance of being killed.

[@drunkenroundtable]

OK, which one of you jerks threw the Mentos into the pressurized lake?

[@jonavanderpal]

I wonder if that could trigger a limnic eruption...

[@TaekTara]

😂😂😂

[@nicodemusedwards6931]

Jason the Cripple I just wanted to make the lake fresh

[@meowmeowmeow594]

Jason the Cripple me

[@zetharic1610]

Try add mentos to coca cola. The carbon dioxide reacting with the calcium carbonate will result in a explosion from the bottle. But ehhhhhhhdont try it! Seriously you will regret it

[@OneUpdateataTime]

This is both terrifying and awesome.

[@icannotchoose]

Aren't most things on scishow?

[@spacious3544]

Yeah because the suffocation of 1700 people and all their livestock is sooooo awesome.

[@amysteffler1766]

@@spacious3544 kerbal space program

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

Extracting methane from Lake Kivu is pretty impressive. I have read elsewhere that one of the places using power from the lake is a brewery.

[@LydiaXavier321]

Limnic eruptions are what happens when Groudon visits Kyogre.

[@orfeasliossatos]

Eyyyyy

[@spacemonster7051]

fenojack EEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[@augustinejacob4995]

This went from a funny Pokemon Reference to just plain confusion... (Eyyy?)

[@andrewzhao444]

in the offical primal artwork there is quite a bit of steam(or carbon dioxide.)

[@mikeshaftx]

Am I late?

[@not_herobrine3752]

this has been sitting at the bottom of my watch later playlist for half a decade

[@Shangori]

As much as I love discussion creationism and religion in general, I rather not see those comments here. There is a good reason for that.. The vlogbrothers have been secular in the way they bring their stuff. Not letting any religion influence their spread of awesome. That doesn't mean there is not religious motive behind it, as I'm sure John's religious views motivates him to some degree, but it does mean that they always try to be all-inclusive. I like this community to actually be that way. All-inclusive, secular, just hanging out and spreading awesome. Not caring about religious affiliation, or at least not letting that influence our feelings towards eachother Doesn't mean we can't have no discussions from time to time. Just would like them to actually be mature discussions, instead of jabs going back and forth.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

Unfortunately, I don't think that the people starting those arguments in Sci Show comments are nerdfighters. For some reason science videos seem to attract people who just *love* to push their views on religion onto everyone else. I wish they'd tone it down (or go elsewhere) too, but I don't think they will. DFTBA

[@alflud]

SomeoneBeginingWithI There's nothing wrong with believing in God but not being religious about it, or believing in a God who preferred to have friends over worshipers, or something like that. There's nothing wrong with believing in God at all but there's definitely something wrong with believing in the devil. When you do that you deny one half of God because there is no devil. God is everything.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

***** So, what you just did was find some people talking about how they don't like it when people are pushy and argumentative about their religions views, and then you tried to push an idea about religion onto one of those people. Really?

[@techcommenter]

True and Hank said he didn't want people being obsessed with his religion a few years ago in one of his videos

[@ButzPunk]

Science channels will naturally bring such debates about. Here's why: 1) The kinds of people who are interested in science tend to be curious about the world and, hence, are likely to be atheists (in the broadest sense of the term). 2) The kinds of people who watch youtube videos tend to be young, so they're in the process of forming their own world-views, independent from the world-views of their parents. 3) Highly religious people who are interested in science will be naturally defensive when they're thinking/talking about either topic, as they must maintain whatever mental checks and balances they've established to allow two incompatible belief systems to co-exist. From 1 and 2, it's highly likely that there will be atheistic discussions in the comments on science videos, since people are social creatures and will naturally seek to discuss their emerging belief systems with others, both to find validation and to better their understanding of their own developing beliefs. From 3, it's highly likely that religious people who see such comments will feel (subconsciously) threatened by them and, thus, will feel compelled to reply - often with vitriol, which -- of course -- will spawn similarly vitriolic responses from the atheists and create a positive feedback loop of hate. Add to this the facts that anonymous internet comments allow people to be far nastier than they would be in person, that jokes (especially sarcasm) don't often translate well to the medium, and that "some men just want to watch the world burn" (trolls) .... and that gives you what we see here.

[@jakeoltmans3]

That's a cool white and gold shirt he's wearing

[@jackkierath4572]

+Jolt17 are you referencing that weird optical illusion about that dress, or are you serious, cus i see black and blue... the dress thing is pretty much a dress that is white and gold to some people and the opposite others (blue and black) maybe he is wearing that coloured shirt deliberately because i assume he would know about this.

[@mr.unitato7955]

+Jack Kierath the real couloir of the dress is black and blue

[@yowhazgood4505]

my troll senses are tingling..

[@this_mfr]

I agree, pink and yellow looks great on him.

[@petehines7263]

All I see is darkness.

[@kboo1198]

We learned about this in Chemistry and Astrophysics! So sad that all those people near Lake Nyos were suffocated :(

[@philpyung4831]

That's cool the figured out how to stop it from happening again and put the pipes in.

[@finnhenman2956]

Another great video, love you guys at SciShow, making me smarter every day.

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

Am I the only one that wants to see a Limnic eruption on video?

[@brettperry3737]

Chaim Goldbaum no.... that's what i was looking for when I ended up here.

[@shamuelkulondwa252]

That explosion you are looking forward to would occur in my hometown and almost all my family would die if this comes to pass as predicted by scientists.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

@@shamuelkulondwa252 oh jez, that's terrifying

[@xenocide1307]

I think satellite footage would be pretty cool to see the lake shift from blue to red as the CO2 saturates the surface water.

[@SmashtheCmachine]

"Most lakes *normally* don't explode" - and then people start fracking.

[@didaloca]

Fracking doesn't cause lakes to explode...

[@SmashtheCmachine]

Daniel Astbury Just your kitchen water to catch fire... I was just indulging a bit of hyperbole.

[@SuperChopstiks]

I know what happened here. Some irresponsible kids threw a pack of mentos in the lake.

[@snickernoodles7268]

Lol

[@dawnjackson6299]

This explanation was extremely helpful!

[@THEHOWLSUN]

SciShow can you explain how under water lakes and rivers are possible and how they form?

[@anyeatwork5698]

Did you mean "underground" ?

[@JenelleD12]

anye atwork No. They meant what they said. Look it up. There are “lakes” and “rivers” in the ocean. Some even have their own waves.

[@anormalusername2748]

World:That lake could kill over 2 million people Scientist: but how do we use it to charge our phones?

[@ryanbernard6550]

Lots of energy to kill that many people... Why not harness it?

[@bangbangliu2146]

World: That bomb could blow up a city Scientist: but how do we use it in a reactor

[@christopherg2347]

@Bangbang Liu: Well, the only real difference between "Energy Source" and "Appocalyptic Explosion" is how fast the energy is released. Nuclear weapons and Nuclear Power plants use the same basic mechanic to create heat. Just one creates a *lot* of heat in a *very* short time resulting in a huge explosion (with very unpractical side effects).

[@Mlogan11]

More like: Politicians/world help orgs - this is going to cost too much money.....not interested...... Scientists: You can make money from this. Politician/world health orgs- we're listening......

[@dharkbizkit]

suffocation over 25km just trough carbon dioxid spreading like wind? wow. i never thought that something like that could happen on earth when theres oxygen everywhere

[@Pile_of_carbon]

Indeed. Scary stuff. We take breathable air for granted and all of a sudden it's gone, the breathable part anyway.

[@gamesman0118]

Yes I tried to tell people once that just because co2 isn't poisonous it isn't harmless but it took a grown man passing out to prove it.

[@gamesman0118]

***** You really don't want to know. We try to make our world idiot-proof and we end up breeding bigger idiots. www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2014.html

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

Gamesman01 It's harmless to human health at atmospheric concentrations usually. You don't want to confuse people by talking about the harmfulness (or lack thereof) of CO2 itself when trying to explain Climate Change. God knows its already difficult enough to get will to accept Climate Change without muddying the waters.

[@gamesman0118]

Merry Machiavelli The incident I was referring to was in a quick freeze that used co2 to chill products. When the line jammed a maintenance man went into the freezer full of co2 to unjam it despite my warning. Of course he passed out and had to be rescued. No one would listen to me when I tried to explain that co2 would displace oxygen.

[@nobrac1647]

Mother Nature cracking open a cold one with the boys

[@ThaliaIrwin]

I remember Hank explaining this during the P4A live stream! :)

[@xanderlander8989]

That's a trip. Thanks for making these, keep it up!

[@WillVanKleev]

Awesome hand gestures!

[@Kezajaws01904]

So the lake is basically farting out a massive cloud of carbon dioxide?

[@nmlssrdshrt1701]

Kezajaws When you fart you release methane.

[@seankurth4371]

+Quentin Kline So that means Lake Kivu is farting but the others are just having mild bloating?

[@nmlssrdshrt1701]

More or less.

[@silviafox78]

nono Kivu is farting and the others are just burping really loudly.

[@pelicancovebeach2873]

This is de best explanation. Thank you.

[@CoinsAndCapsaicin]

There is a long form documentary about Lake Nyos. It explains everything in depth.

[@crimes_against_bean-manity]

With lake Kivu, that methane could become a major energy source. More co2 pumping in with the occasional siphon, more methane created and siphoned, more natural gas.

[@vmaldia]

when even the flies are dead, you know its serious

[@kenjikumaro9602]

this is like so cool, deadly, but cool

[@EcceJack]

Wow, that was fascinating!

[@ridered300]

Something weird happened to my brain and I heard/saw "Killing 1700 people" as "killing 1700 APPLES." I loled superhard.

[@lukeusername]

Gunnar J 1700 less apples means 1700 less assholes. Edit: people eat apples to make themselves look like assholes.

[@benaaronmusic]

I feel so much smarter. Thanks SciShow , for all the great videos!

[@tragicmoth152]

I've never been this early! This episode was really interesting!!!!

[@sethjones5250]

LOL matthew GAS TON. Sorry after that bit on limnic eruptions hearing that name made me chuckle.

[@unbreakableyin2522]

Well said

[@RichardFuchs]

Thanks for using SI units

[@murimurimrui]

Well exploding lakes... One more thing to worry about

[@Chance57]

My favorite part of this video is how flippant he is and how seemingly humourous he finds all that human misery.

[@Happyfortunestudio]

Lol

[@SherissaGo]

i just searched up the topic out of curiosity and clicked the first link and i was like "wow this editing and this dude reminds me of john green" well, the more you know.

[@jarrettwattenburger1272]

I was really hoping it would show a video of a lake exploding.

[@michaelkricheldorf5931]

For that 3rd Limnic Explosion that may happen, i would just be the scientist to not do anything about it, I would get a variable zoom high speed camera and film the giant fiery lake go boom

[@GoblinGuiboune]

about time I give you something for your wonderful videos, 20 bucks on subbable ! Thanks for the knowledge SciShow ! :)

[@toripup1]

A fiery, exploding lake does sound kind of cool. Just imagine the action-film potential it would create! You wouldn't even need to have bombs or anything to create the explosions. (It's probably best that doesn't happen though. It sounds like it would be a disaster).

[@karlineh.1794]

I`m so glad that you tell me all about it! There certainly is an urgent need to enlighten everybody about this phenomenon because we all became much to stupid to stumble over it by ourselves...

[@MrTKHolmes]

I heard of this stuff years ago in walking with prehistoric beasts.

[@sl270703]

SciShow Can you make an update video about lake vostok? I'm really curious about what is inside it. I could search for documentaries here on YT but It would be more fun to share it here on a popular science channel so that more people will see it!

[@ryanfritts9120]

I hiked in one of these in death valley!

[@Happyfortunestudio]

That’s epic and scary

[@tinamclaughlin1991]

Wow, unseen killer of all!

[@DarmaAngelo]

awesome explenation, but animation more please :)

[@arielabramovichabramovich590]

I'm a part of a group that did a study about Lake Kivu. We suggested inserting some bacteria to turn the carbon dioxide and methane in the lake into harmless molecules. if anybody's interested he can contact me. p.s. Pardon my english. It isn't my native language

[@j.kaimori3848]

ariel abramovich abramovich That's amazing, it's good they even looked at the other lakes but to find good solutions, I applaud you and your team. :)

[@spacewarpphotography1667]

So, the lake will erupt spilling tons of carbon dioxide and tons of methane, the latter of which will then immediately burn in the cloud of pure carbon dioxide, which is a known fire extinguisher?

[@MegaRazorback]

Carbon Dioxide has a density of around 1.98 at one standard atmospheric pressure while Methane on the other hand, has a density of just 0.656 which means if it burst the methane would ride on top of the Carbon Dioxide layer as it spread with little to no mixing of the two gasses.

[@anyeatwork5698]

@@MegaRazorback Yep, Horrendous! the silent killer at the bottom suffocating everyone while Armageddon is going on immediately above it.

[@jordanbrown6766]

Wow, okay. This is cool.

[@junusavior65]

Dude! That is some crazy shit!

[@alHailHale]

Loved this episode it explains a lot about what was considered a national catastrophe in Cameroon. Just one tiny correction the Nyos is pronounced Ni-Us not ny-us lol

[@misterysmithers8566]

Would you please illustrate how we could make power plants using geothermal energy?

[@arjunratnadev]

THANKS HANK!! :D

[@foxylady9110]

Let’s hope kivu doesn’t explode, they are evacuating people at the minute...scary stuff

[@LostPeopleOfEarth158]

Yay for the rarest natural disaster ever!

[@HannahTarr]

I had déjà vu this whole video... You discussed this briefly during the P4A livestream, didn't you?

[@FKAkhan73]

You kept reminding me of Cpt. Kirk!

[@jackkraken3888]

This came up right after I had watched the lake Nyos incident documentary.

[@panstriato2]

Please do an episode on bacteria building methane from CO2!

[@vampyo]

You are so helpful thank you you made my homework a lotttttt easier!

[@XenogeneGray]

Carbon Capture and Sequestration ... yes that's a good idea :P

[@0451455]

I would incredibly enjoy you making videos that explain clearly and simply well-known science laws. E=Mc2? Yeah, I know what it mean…. kinda. Maybe I'd need a refresh?

[@fjoa123]

wow dind't know about this!

[@memomorph5375]

Would this ever happen in a river on a hot day? I’m wondering about that family and dog who passed away on a hiking trail with very little found on autopsy. They were along the Merced river

[@ericwolf990]

I think not, moving water prevents the CO2 buildup

[@NaziGOPBallmer]

I think I remember watching a documentary that used these African lakes as a basis for their explanation on how the ancient Egyptian civilization became devastated by the plagues.

[@Sboarder-ul6cr]

All hail Matthew Gaston!

[@Bryntwulf]

Holy hell, that's awe-inspiringly terrible.

[@monafinlayson4637]

What hank forgot to mention is that these lakes can only occur near the equator where the seasons don't change very much and especially in tropical regions. These cannot exist in canada and America, but there is one in South America.

[@itzdylandude]

There are literally these kinds of lakes in NY and Canada

[@itzdylandude]

They're called meromictic lakes (I couldn't find it without clicking off this video) and there are at least 3 dozen in North America alone, let alone Lake Cadagno in Switzerland which is how I found out about them

[@miss.g-shun-w]

I love how he explains things so dummies like me can comprehend.

[@RayRae559]

That hack radio voice kills me

[@jman6866]

So are there any videos of this occurring, i wanna see an exploding lake

[@brennan123]

What is causing the pressure to build up on the bottom? I understand there is the weight of all that water, but if it is enough pressure to explode, why isn't it enough pressure to reach the surface and evaporate slowly over time?

[@IXIDrunkenScotsman]

I went swimming in lake kivu in 2013. Good times

[@solum_mirari5925]

So wait... Is the water fizzy there if you drink it? Like tonic water/club soda?

[@jakeoltmans3]

maybe towards the bottom

[@MrBranboom]

+Melissa Geckensmerf Mmm, methane flavored pop.

[@UriMegaConnor]

methane isint poisonous so IM IN!

[@MrBranboom]

+Connor Simon video tape reation vid.

[@ZEEmtl]

Ewwww tonic water that stuff is nasty!!!

[@TetraSky]

well that's scary....

[@walleye306]

Thanks Prof. Zap Brannigan

[@Danihelus]

That's so cool! :O

[@Musicdudeyoutub]

Can we please provide something relevant in the comments? This video is awesome on so many levels!

[@Usmerchant101]

the picture at 2:36 says Bill Evans, are we talking about the jazz pianist Bill Evans? or is this just someone else i'd like to know (it just says credit Bill Evans)

[@davebashford3753]

How does sticking a pipe down to the bottom help bring CO2 or methane up? If they're pumping water up and the now lower pressure releases the gases from the newly raised water, that doesn't seem to be very efficient, but maybe it's efficient enough?

[@kaziahmed5377]

Imagine dropping a bucket of mentos in that lake

[@LesKern]

Too damned upbeat reporting that the cloud killed 1,700 souls.

[@interstellarsurfer]

I theorize that on 21 August 1986, a tourist accidentally dropped his Mentos into Lake Nyos, causing the largest soda eruption ever witnessed by mankind. Unfortunately, all witnesses died in the fizzy tsunami. Of course, further experimentation is needed to confirm this theory.

[@decourtennicolas]

Vs. Lakey Eerie catching on fire!!

[@fryncyaryorvjink2140]

Sounds like the opposite of rain, I suppose it doesn't come out as one huge bubble cause I think that would cause tsunami like effects, which weren't mentioned

[@TheVlog]

Largest most pressurized soda can of all time? Challenge Accepted.

[@breyonhopkins4795]

New fear unlocked

[@FrankHarrison12]

I'm disappointed no one has said this on any of the videos about this incident.. Silent but deadly. :)

[@ELWest1000]

This is scary, but at least scientists have figured out what is going on and can fix it, mostly. And to the religious thing--well, God gave us brains to figure this shit out, now, didn't he? :P

[@ELWest1000]

***** Well, I do believe in God, but I also think science is awesome, so figure that one out LOL.

[@VintageLJ]

ELWest1000 There is nothing to figure out.

[@ELWest1000]

Ezra Muskat Sure, but they're not the ones making public policy now, are they? :P

[@slipstreamxr3763]

Speaking of God, archaeologists think something may have happened in Egypt in the past. Thus being responsible for the 10 plagues of Egypt. God works in mysterious ways but he often works through nature people keep that in mind.

[@xelgringoloco2]

How can creationists make their design argument when lakes fucking explode? The world isn't as perfectly designed as they say it is.

[@kirza94]

theres 100's of things that prove the earth isnt perfect XD us humans being top ... heh

[@friendlytalbot4050]

God's Wrath™.

[@darrencarpenter5001]

In b4 the flood gates. Agreed they are crazy. But I'm guessing they will say God works in mysterious ways... But to me I'd say Shit happens. Lol most of our own planet isn't even fit human life. *Shugs* Religious ppl be Cray Cray.

[@724Rhubarb]

Man, I can't wait to die and turn into nothingness :)

[@darrencarpenter5001]

Rhubarb724 Because they use there beliefs to dictate how other should live. Religion would not be bad if it was kept to themselves. It's like this they stop us from progressing because of there holy book. Stem cell research, Gay Marriage, and Abortion are all huge topics that religious ppl try to dictate. They should be able believe what ever they want but don't brain wash children into thinking the earth was made for us or that we are different from animal.

[@gvigary1]

Am I the only one who was thinking about Carbon Capture & Storage while watching this video?

[@ibladethgamesjointheblades3830]

Lakes can explode? Mind blown

[@Belckan500]

This episode was recorede the firts day of the 2014 P4A !!!!

[@arunjohnson1162]

Every time I learn about something, SciShow reports on it 2 and a half weeks later, if they just got 3 weeks ahead.....