Lake Kivu is not only about 1,700 times larger than Lake Nyos, but is also located in a far more densely populated area, with over two million people living along its shores, and the part within the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a site of active armed conflict and low state capacity for the DRC government. Lake Kivu has not reached a high level of saturation yet; if the water were to become heavily saturated, a limnic eruption would pose a great risk to human and animal life. Two significant changes in Lake Kivu's physical state have brought attention to a possible limnic eruption: the high rates of methane dissociation and a rising surface temperature. Research investigating historical and present-day temperatures show Lake Kivu's surface temperature is increasing by about 0.12 °C per decade. Lake Kivu is in close proximity to potential triggers: Mount Nyiragongo (an active volcano which erupted in January 2002 and May 2021), an active earthquake zone, and other active volcanoes.