FNs fredsstyrke i det østlige DR Congo hjælper vulkanologer med at forudse et muligt kommende udbrud fra to vulkaner, der ligger nær hinanden, og som kan anrette enorme skader og menneskelige tab, hvis – eller når – naturkræfterne slår til.
KINSHASA, 25 February 2014 (UN News Service): Breaking through clouds of smoke, a United Nations helicopter flying a team of scientists over eastern DR Congo dipped near the mouth of Nyamuragira, one of Africa’s most active yet least studied volcanoes, which threatens to potentially turn nearby Goma into Pompeii.
The expedition, conducted earlier this month, is a different facet of “civilian protection” for the UN Mission in the vast country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO.
It aims to understand if the increasing plume of (røgfane fra) the volcano is also related to an increase of available volumes of magma at the surface. If so, the greater the chance of the volcano erupting (går i udbrud).
“In casese two volcanoes would erupt (der ligge en vulkan til ved siden af, red.) without a warning from the local scientific institution, it would surely be the most dramatic natural disaster catastrophe in recent years,” said Dario Tedesco, the lead scientist on the UN-supported visit.
The visit therefore included a stop at nearby Mount Nyiragongo, which, together with Nyamuragira are responsible for the majority of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.
Gode grunde til at være på forkant
“This is the reason why most actors, UN and European Union (EU) above all, are helping and increasing technical and scientific capacities of local researchers,” noted Dario Tedesco
The study is carried out in partnership with the Goma Volcano Observatory (GVO) and UN partnering International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Second University of Naples in Italy with which Mr. Tedesco is affiliated.
It is one of several studies in which MONUSCO helps in gathering data for use by humanitarian agencies and provincial authorities about Nyamulagira and Mount Nyiragongo.
“This situation is making it difficult, even impossible, to work next to the volcanoes and led us to quit most of the surveillance points in order to avoid possible looting (plyndring) as occurred in 2007,” Mr. Tedesco said, referring to ongoing fighting in and around flashpoint city of Goma, which lies at the feet of the volcanos.
Sø med giftgasser
Scientists have expressed concern about potential dangers not just to Goma but the land under it and Lake Kivu adjacent to it.
The lake conceals underwater concentrations of carbon dioxide (kultveilte) and methane. If Nyamuragira blows, it could release a lethal (dødbringende) cloud of gas across the area that would kill anyone who managed to escape the volcanic eruption.
In addition to assisting with logistics for the scientific visit, MONUSCO has been working with local authorities to create a contingency plan in the the event that the wider area has to be evacuated quickly.
“Den rygende” og “Kommandanten”
Nyiragongo, which means “the smoker” in the local language, and Nyamulagira, “the commander”, have a mythical significance as the ancestral home of the dead that strive to stir up the flames of the mountain, according to local beliefs.
Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira have gone through several eruptions since 1880.
On 17 January 2002, the 3,2 kilometres high Nyiragongo spilled more than 15 million cubic yards of lava into Goma, destroyed an estimated 14.000 homes forcing some 350.000 people to flee.
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