Preamble:
The Earth is our common home, and some of the beauty of nature is breathtaking. However, some landscapes, while spectacular, hide huge dangers and wasted energy. In the case of "Gates of Hell" in Turkmenistan, Central Asia, the name sounds terrifying. It was originally a natural gas pit, but due to an accident, it burned for more than 50 years and became a "gate of hell" deep in the desert. Recently, the President of Turkmenistan ordered the extinguishing of the "Gates of Hell" fire, and for a time, this thrilling spectacle was once again in the global spotlight. So, what new aspects can we see in this "hell gate" firefighting operation, and at the same time, what can this incident bring us?
The President of Turkmenistan ordered the extinguishing of the "Gates of Hell" fire
Recently, the presidents of the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan ordered to extinguish the "Gates of Hell" fire in the Karakum desert. It is understood that this gas pit, called "Hell's Gate", is located in the Darvazu Desert of Turkmenistan, with a diameter of about 70 meters and a depth of about 30 meters. This huge fire pit was caused by an explosion in the 80s when a Soviet gas exploration team was drilling here, causing the ground to collapse into a huge fire crater with burning clouds. Moreover, due to the abundant natural gas resources at that time and the geographical location was relatively remote, the relevant departments did not take effective measures to plug or extinguish it, and as a result, the fire pit has been burning for nearly 40 years.
2. The "Gates of Hell" that have been burning for more than 50 years
In the legend of Turkmenistan, this fire pit is like an exit from hell, which is why it is nicknamed "The Gate of Hell". Moreover, the fire pit is truly spectacular, especially at night, when the flames reflect the entire sky like a sacred flame that will never be extinguished, attracting many tourists. However, don't be fooled by the beauty of the scenery, in fact, the fire had a great impact on the lives of the locals of Turkmenistan.
For example, because the burning of this fire pit not only consumes a large amount of natural gas resources, but also releases a large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which has a certain impact on the local natural ecological environment and climate, and greatly aggravates the degree of desertification in Turkmenistan. Moreover, as the fire continued to burn, the surrounding mud pits and puddles were also threatened, and in the event of an explosion, the consequences would be unimaginable.
3. The problem of extinguishing the fire at the "Gates of Hell".
Therefore, in order to improve the impact of the fire, the government of Turkmenistan has been looking for effective ways to completely extinguish the fire of the "gates of hell". However, this is easier said than done, and it is not an easy task to extinguish such a fire that has lasted for more than 50 years.
At first, the local government took measures to manually extinguish the fire, but due to the remote location, poor natural conditions, and many potential safety hazards, it did not achieve much success. Later, the Turkmenistan government tried to extinguish the fire by helicopter and organized some international rescue teams to assist, but the end result was still unsatisfactory.
Originally, some experts and scholars suggested that the fire pit could be completely sealed by burying it with large-scale sand and gravel, so as to extinguish the fire. However, due to the special nature of this fire pit, once buried with sand and gravel, it may produce violent explosions and release toxic gases, so the government postponed the action to extinguish the fire.
Fourth, the enlightenment of new energy development
It has to be said that the long-term burning of the "Gates of Hell" gas pit has sounded a wake-up call for the local government of Turkmenistan. In fact, similar natural gas pits are not uncommon in today's highly industrialized society, but in most cases, we will choose to bury or plug them directly to avoid unnecessary waste of resources and environmental pollution.
For the use of energy resources, we should pursue an efficient and clean way of utilization, for example, through the advanced treatment of domestic waste, the extraction of organic matter, fermentation to produce gas, to replace the traditional coal and oil energy. Or, we can provide more clean energy for our lives and industrial production through photovoltaic power generation, wind power generation and other means.
5. New development of tourism economy
Of course, in addition to bringing a certain warning significance, the "Gates of Hell" fire extinguishing incident has also brought us some inspiration and imagination. Originally, due to the existence of this fire pit, the nearby Turkmenistan region has become a popular attraction for international tourism, attracting a large number of tourists.
The fire-fighting operation also provides a good opportunity for the local government to develop eco-tourism and scientific expedition tourism by renovating the surrounding attractions of the "Gates of Hell", so as to bring new development opportunities to Turkmenistan's tourism economy and realize the secondary use of resources.
Epilogue:
Perhaps, the burning incident of the "Hell's Gate" gas pit is a warning from nature to mankind. We should respect nature, but also know how to live in harmony with nature. Only in this way will we be able to discover more beautiful landscapes in the process of exploring the unknown, and at the same time be able to protect this common home.