Chernobyl - Nature's heaven now

[SciD]

Chernobyl, the scene of the world's worst nuclear accident, has defied the gloomiest of prophesies by becoming one of Europe's richest wildlife habitats, teeming with endangered species.

The evacuation of tens of thousands of residents living in the 30km exclusion zone around the Ukrainian reactor has resulted in a flourishing community of plants and animals whose diversity has stunned biologists.

Although the exclusion zone has been subjected to some of the worst radioactive contamination in history, life in all its forms has proved to be remarkably resistant to the known biological effects of radiation, notably mutations and birth deformities.

Scientists studying the site from the International Radioecology Laboratory just outside the zone have reported a startling return of many rare species to the area and a general increase in the diversity of many wild plants and animals.

British biologists involved in the study of the region have called for the zone to become a nature reserve where endangered fauna and flora can be free to breed in what is becoming a pristine habitat. Arable farmland and pasture has been slowly replaced by weeds and meadows as the land returns to its original forested state.

Large European mammals, such as moose, wild boar, roe and red deer, beavers, wolves, badgers, otters and lynx have become well established within the zone, while species associated with man -- such as rats, house mice, sparrows and pigeons -- have declined. Michail Bondarkov, the director of the laboratory, said that 48 endangered species listed in the international Red Book of protected animals and plants are now thriving in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Of the 270 species of birds in the area, 180 species are breeding -- the rest being migrants that are passing through. Breeding birds include the rare green crane, black stork, white-tailed sea eagle and fish hawk. Freshwater fish, such as carp, pike, roach and perch, are also thriving, Dr. Bondarkov said. The scientists have even recorded a rich community of aquatic wildlife living in one of the contaminated cooling ponds at the Chernobyl site.

Source

 

[pcfan123]

Wow, still would not drink the water there. What does Bhopal look like now? Was it as lucky? I remember when Union Carbide came to recruit at my university and a whole mass of students protested and drove them off campus lol.

 

[SciD]

There is diffrence in Nuclear leak and Chemical leak. Bhopal would be twice more densly populated now.

I had attended a online class where this lady lets you hear some amazing sounds from nature and she introduced us to sounds of nature from Chernobyl. It just shows that nature has its way of fighting back.

 

[pcfan123]

yea but the radiation will still be there for centuries.

 

[jordox]

One of those places where you'd have a chance of going super hero.

 

[Sureshot]

yea but the radiation will still be there for centuries.

It could be cleaned up, but no one is willing to do it. I'd be embarrassed if that had happened in my country and the government didn't do anything about it to clear up the aftermath.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

It won't be too much of a problem for species with fairly short life spans, as there isn't much time for the cumulative effect of radiation to do much damage. It will have an effect across several generations still.


Humans could probably survive there for a fair while providing there were lots of teenage pregnancies.

 

[Sureshot]

Could be English, then.

 

[SciD]

Humans could probably survive there for a fair while providing there were lots of teenage pregnancies.

Country  ↓ 	birth rate  ↓ 	abortion rate  ↓ 	Combined rate  ↓

United Kingdom 	29.6 	21.3 	50.9
New Zealand 	33.4 	22.5 	55.9
Hungary 	29.9 	30.2 	60.1
United States 	55.6 	30.2 	85.8

 

[pcfan123]

lol who knew NZ would be in that list. Guess when there is not much else to do .....

 

[Niv]

There's sheep

 

[Master Khan]

Wow America is really hign

 

[angryangy]

The radiation levels in the Zone vary. Some parts are quite safe for humans, some parts not so much. The power plant itself actually remained in operation for 14 years after the explosion. Initial radioactive material destroyed forests, but the soil is very fertile and the ecology bounced back after much of the unstable material had decayed into safer isotopes. It's an interesting demonstration, that natural processes are more adverse to the presence of humans than a heavy dose of radiation.

 

[SciD]

Even if world is destroyed in Nuclear War, Earth will be more healthy place to live in after 100 years of that, then it is right now.

 

[Sureshot]

The radiation levels in the Zone vary. Some parts are quite safe for humans, some parts not so much. The power plant itself actually remained in operation for 14 years after the explosion. Initial radioactive material destroyed forests, but the soil is very fertile and the ecology bounced back after much of the unstable material had decayed into safer isotopes. It's an interesting demonstration, that natural processes are more adverse to the presence of humans than a heavy dose of radiation.

Kind of makes sense in a way, though. We eat crops, vegetation, etc what does wildlife feed on? Heck, we often eat the wild life. Wildlife is also unlikely to move into areas with dangerous levels of radiation, because those areas wouldn't have food, so they'd have no reason to move there.