Rena Sharon is a concert pianist living in British Columbia and Artistic Director
of the Vancouver International Song Institute and the Young Artist Experience.
Some years ago I-MAG STS was interested in the situation at Lake Kivu in
eastern Africa. The lake contains 60 BILLION cubic meters of methane. It is
within easy lava flow range of Nyiragongo, the most active volcano on Planet
Earth. There's a major seismic fault that runs under the lake - there was a
Richter 6.6 there in 1990. The lake's western mountain slopes are none too stable
either. Our models make it clear that when the methane explodes again (there is
geological evidence for five explosions in the last several thousand years) the
power will be Hiroshima class. Between gas, flames and lacustrine tsunamis, we
calculate two million dead outright and another five million more lost to
starvation, violence and disease within a year. In some scenarios the water and
debris overwhelm the Ruzizi River valley and pollute the northern end of Lake
Tanganyika.
For many years, Lake Kivu was ground zero for the massive killing of human
beings. We are reluctant to describe it as genocide as there was no clearly defined
group killing or being killed. It was a good time to be a crocodile.
Into this paradise went Rena Sharon. Armed with a piano. We call that courage.
"When dawn comes, I
will bid men sound
Helm's horn, and I will
ride forth. Will you ride
with me then, son of
Arathorn? Maybe we
shall cleave a road, or
make such an end as
will be worth a song - if
any be left to sing of us
hereafter."
Theoden, King of
Rohan, to Aragorn at
the siege of Helm's Deep
where they imminent
defeat and death. Page
144 of The Two Towers
in the Lord of the Ring
trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.