Scientists issue shocking update on real-life ‘Gates of Hell’ that have been burning for more than 50 years
Topics: Climate Change, Science, Weird, World News, Environment
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Climate Change, Science, Weird, World News, Environment
For over 50 years the 'Gates of Hell' have been on fire and now an important update has been given by government officials.
If you didn’t know about this gaping hole in the ground that has been burning constantly for decades, you do now.
While it might seem like some supernatural happening, it all comes down to the natural gasses underneath the ground, and a costly mistake by a company.
After setting a pit on fire, the 'Gates of Hell' became the popular name of a 69 metre (226ft) wide and 30 metre (98ft) deep crater in Turkmenistan.
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Although the name makes it sound scary, it’s actually burning natural gas on a site which was identified by the Soviet Union as a potential oil field in 1971.
Early surveys of the site found that rather instead of oil, there was a large pocket of natural gas beneath right beneath the area they were currently drilling on, which then collapsed and released potentially dangerous gases into the surrounding area.
That’s when a group of Soviet engineers (Turkmenistan was part of the Soviet Union at the time) came up a solution, which in hindsight, should have been avoided.
They lit it on fire to stop the gases from spreading.
While they thought it would only burn for a couple of days before the gas was burnt up, it has been steadily blazing on for over five decades.
Because it actually looks like it could be the gates of Hell, it soon became a popular tourist spot.
However, it could be gone soon as the Turkmenistan's government has been successfully attempting to close the 'Gates of Hell' and extinguish the fire due to the enormous environmental damage it was causing.
According to scientists, the flames are now dimming because of the reduced flow of natural flammable gas.
Officials say that the flames are now three times smaller than they were in the past, and while the flames used to be seen miles away, now you have to go closer to the pit to be able to see them.
Irina Luryeva, a director at the energy company Turkmengaz told a fossil fuel conference: “Before a huge glow from the blaze was visible from several kilometres away, hence the name 'Gateway to Hell.'
“Today only a faint source of combustion remains.”
Turkmenistan's tourists travel to the site to camp by the burning methane, and they’ll soon have to look elsewhere to find their next warm spot.
The country’s leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov began this journey to reducing the flames in 2022 when he announced that he wanted to be remembered as the leader who closed the gates to hell.
Speaking at the time, Berdymukhamedov said: “We are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the well-being of our people.”
But while the fires at the Gateway to Hell are dwindling, the pit continues to leak vast quantities of gas into the atmosphere, causing environmental concerns over the country’s carbon emissions.