In the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, there is one of the most surreal sights on our planet, a giant crater that has been burning for decades. Dubbed the ‘Gate to Hell,’ this burning crater was never meant to be in this state. What started as a scientific blunder in the 1970s has turned into a long-standing environmental issue. While the burning is quite intriguing, scientists say that the actual problem lies beneath the burning crater. The burning crater in the Karakum Desert of north-central Turkmenistan, where thousands of flames fueled by seeping natural gas have been burning for decades, is a manifestation of a much larger problem related to natural gas reserves. What makes this phenomenon even more alarming is that it represents a continuous release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas—into the atmosphere, raising serious environmental and climate concerns.
