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Kawah Ijen’s blue fire at night

Transcript

At Kawah Ijen in East Java, bright blue fire streams down the volcano after dark. It is not blue lava, but sulfuric gases ignite as they meet oxygen-rich air and can burn at temperatures above 600 degrees Celsius. Some of the burning sulfur cools into liquid and keeps flowing, which gives the eerie impression of lava spilling downhill. The same crater also holds one of the world’s largest highly acidic lakes, making the place as dangerous as it is beautiful. And through that toxic haze, miners still work the crater, carrying sulfur in heavy baskets by hand.

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