Video has emerged of visitors to Costa Rica’s ‘Cave of Death’ shocked as the oxygen-free chamber extinguishes a giant flashlight in seconds.
The video shows a tour guide waving a large lantern with a foot-long flame into the mouth of a Central American cave.
In less than seven seconds, the huge amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) escaping from the cave extinguishes his lamp.
Adding to the description strange atmosphere inside the ‘Cave of Death’ (‘Cueva de la Muerte’), the weight of this heavy CO2 can be seen crushing the smoke of the lamp as it flies, leaving behind a thick gray smoke.
The shape of the smoke, as it emerges from the cave, is a sign of how thick CO2 gas is descending, squeezing the air out of the cave.
‘Small animals will enter the cave and breathe air, usually for a short period of time,’ Belgian cave researcher Guy van Rentergem explained.
The cave is continuously fed CO2 gas from the nearby volcano, the Poas Volcano, which seeps into the geological formations.
Every hour, about 66 pounds of CO2 escape from the ‘Cave of Death,’ according to van Rentergem, who is also a trained chemist.
‘In one year, this is 263 tons of carbon dioxide or the equivalent of driving a car 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles),’ said van Rentergem, ‘or 56 trips around the world.’
The appearance of the smoke coming out of the cave (above), researchers said, is a sign of how much CO2 is coming down, squeezing the air out of the cave – which has disturbed many of the particles that have tried to extract the gas. check it out
The mere supply of this invisible CO2 in motion poses a danger to life itself as a warning sign decorated with terrifying skulls and crossbones that screams: ‘Danger! There is no offense beyond this.’
Fortunately, people are often saved from the deadly cave, because it is too small for a person to enter, although snakes, birds, rats and other creatures have died there.
Costa Rica’s ‘Cave of Death’, located in the province of Venicia, may also have the following effects, for anyone who carelessly pokes their head through the entrance.
The levels of CO2 emitted inside the cave are so high that they can instantly knock a person unconscious, which prevents breathing.
‘It’s a very small cave,’ admitted van Rentergem, ‘but it’s amazing because there’s a lot of carbon dioxide coming out of the back of the cave.’
Now part of the Recreo Verde tourist site, the Cave of Death is about 6.5 feet deep and 10 feet long, and is safe to view from a short distance away, however.
In fact, Michael Adrescon’s recent video of the cave, which was reported on Elon Musk’s X website several times this month, was posted on TikTok with an incentive for vacationers to go see these attractions.
‘Experience an exciting adventure exploring the Cave of Death,’ Adrescon’s post reads. ‘Immerse yourself in the natural beauty of this unique place!’
A recent cave video from April 2024, posted by TikToker Michael Adrescon (@MichaelCon), shows a tour guide on this incredible adventure swinging by a large torch burning with a tall flame in the mouth of a Central American cave.
Belgian speleologist Guy van Rentergem (above) visited the ‘Cave of Death’ in Costa Rica in 2019. A trained chemist, van Rentergem has spent years exploring and mapping caves using a Terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (T -LiDAR)
Visitors to Death’s Cave demonstrate its power by holding a lighted torch to the entrance. Look at the warning sign decorated with skulls and crossbones that reads: ‘Danger! No offense beyond that’
Other commenters below the original Tik Tok posthowever, he had a strong scientific interest in the clip, treating it as a visual aid in high school chemistry class.
“This is why gravity is important,” said TikToker @tehchanka. ‘Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen and will displace oxygen (at) low levels.’
“Methane is light and it clears the air very well,” he added
Often called ‘relative density’ today, specific gravity is a ratio that compares any type of air to the volume of air around it at room temperature.
Some commentators left their observations often threatened by the risk of an odorless, colorless and invisible CO2 concentration that could cause a visitor to die within minutes of visiting the wrong cave.
“It’s a very scary thing when you see caves,” said the TikToker. ‘You won’t even know when you pass out.’
The Cave of Death – or ‘Cueva de la Muerte’ in local Spanish – is located at the Recreo Verde tourist attraction in the province of Venicia, Costa Rica.
There are other caves around the world with high levels of CO2, including Movile Cave in Romania and Carburangeli Cave in Italy.
Famous in the UK, Peak Cavern in Derbyshire was the site of a tragic accident involving British student Neil Moss in 1959.
The 20-year-old from Oxford University lost consciousness due to CO2 gas, but there is some argument that this was from his CO2 gas, which built up at the bottom of the cave.
A 2022 study by Italian researchers said that natural caves are particularly vulnerable to ‘dangerous CO2 concentrations.’
That’s because they encourage the release of ‘geogenic’ CO2, meaning CO2 that comes from natural processes on Earth.
‘Atmospheric CO2 concentrations can reach high levels inside natural caves,’ the authors of the study said, ‘representing a dangerous environment for people who frequent the underground.’
