Search - NOVA: Volcano Under the City on DVD

Deadly Mt Nyirangongo rules Congo "Paradise"

Afan of Sitagyl Manor | Brooklyn, New York United States | 10/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Filmmaker Osa Johnson called Lake Kivu "Paradise" when she and husband Martin lived there during the early 1930s, but looming over the lake is dangerous Mt Nyirangongo, a huge active volcano that threatens to destroy Goma, a city of 500,000 set on a Congo lakeshore. This city, the scene of decades of armed conflict and civil unrest, was built literally on top of the volcanic system, laced with fissures, fumaroles, and cracks that emit deadly CO2 that hugs the ground and sometimes kills the unwary. The fastest flowing lava in the world is spewed from the crater, as observed during 2005's disastrous lava eruptions.

Lake Kivu itself is a potential menace, carbon dioxide belching into the deep recesses of the lake from underwater fissures. This gas could be destabilized by any volcanic or seismic event and be released into the atmosphere in a cataclysmic event, similar to Cameroon's Nyos lake tragedy.

The bold descent of the vulcanologists into the actively boiling crater is not to be missed! In all, an exciting and absorbing film with nice illustrative graphics. The occasional proprietary NOVA/PBS popup can be annoying, but the awesome scenery of the volcanic cone makes up for it. Recommended!!"