Hello everyone!
In my last post, I briefly talked about the impacts of radioactive pollution on the environment. To carry on the same theme, I would like to talk about nuclear disasters.
I believe in one point in time of your life you must have heard of the Chernobyl Disaster. It took place on 26 April 1986 when a reactor at a nuclear power plant exploded and burned, now known as the worst nuclear accident in history (Blakemore, 2019). A 30km radius exclusion zone was set up, people were evacuated and the town of Pripyat abandoned. It has been more than 30 years since the incident yet the area would be inhabitable for humans for another 20,000 years.
Immediate Impacts
Almost everything that remained in the area died as an immediate impact. Trees in the area that absorbed high levels of radiation turned reddish-brown and became known as the “Red Forest”. Within months, large populations of rodents and insects living in the soil died off (Schenkman, 2020). I would like to share this video I watched by Wildlife X Team International providing a quick summary of the impacts and current situation at Chernobyl (I would like to add a trigger warning if you do not wish to see pictures of mutated animals please do not watch).
It was mentioned how after the incident, there was an increase in oddly mutated animals and within 6 months it appeared as though wildlife has completely disappeared from the area.
Chernobyl 30 Years After
30 years after the incident, with human activities out of the way, trees have regrown and wildlife has overtaken the area. Based on statistics from the Belarus Ministry of Natural Resources, they found numbers of large animals like elk, roe deer, red deer, and wild boar are actually increasing (Schenkman, 2020). Population densities of wolves are even higher than control reserves in Belarus and Russia. I would like to share another video I came across of Biologist Timothy Mousseau and his studies of mutant bugs, birds, and mice around Chernobyl.
He found that in areas of high contamination, many species of birds here are depressed and lower in biodiversity than there should be. In addition, there is a higher frequency of tumors and physical abnormalities like deformed beaks. While studying the firebugs get also found that very obvious that deformed patterns were much more prevalent in areas of high contamination. In an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), Biologist Timothy Mousseau also talks about the plants having deformed pollen and growth-form abnormalities (Zimmermann, 2018). Over evolutionary time, populations are expected to return to normal after the mutagen disappears.
It seems as though despite the harsh environment as what Dr Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park,
Life finds a way
The incident might have taken many lives and destroyed the environment, however over the years, it became a safe haven for many animals to seek refuge. With the area being uninhabitable for humans for a long time to come, it could be an area where animals will be able to thrive over the years. Could this be a blessing in disguise for the wildlife?
It was a very interesting topic to research on and I highly recommend reading Professor Timothy Mousseau interview with DW. Do let me know what you think about this or if you have something you want to share!
See you soon in my next post!
References
Blakemore, E. (2019, May 17). The Chernobyl disaster: What happened, and the long-term impacts. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/chernobyl-disaster/
Schenkman, L. (2020, February 20). After a nuclear disaster, then what? A surprising look at the animals of Chernobyl and Fukushima. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from https://ideas.ted.com/after-a-nuclear-disaster-then-what-a-surprising-look-at-the-animals-of-chernobyl-and-fukushima/
Zimmermann, N. (2018, April 26). Nuclear accidents make mutant bugs and birds. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from https://www.dw.com/en/nuclear-accidents-make-mutant-bugs-and-birds/a-19098683
Mengli
September 6, 2020 — 1:41 pm
How about the Fukushima disaster?
Naomi
September 8, 2020 — 4:41 am
Hi Mengli!
Thanks for the question!
I went to do more research on Fukushima disaster though radionuclides were much more diverse, fortunately for Japan, most went out to sea and was diluted by the Pacific Ocean. The immediate impact could be seen as high bird mortality which reduced the diversity of birds in the area (Little, 2012).
After almost a decade, a study done by researchers from the University of Georgia found that animal life is thriving in the Evacuation Zone (Lyons et al., 2020). They found that numerous species were found in abundance in the area especially species that are usually in conflict with humans like boars. Similar to Chernobyl, the rewilding of the area has provided an area for wildlife to live in. However, we cannot ignore the fact of genetic mutations as a result of chronic radiation. Especially with most of it ending up in the ocean, there could be many effects that are unseen. Just last year, mutant fish of extraordinary size was found in the water. Could it have been a genetic mutation or just a very old fish? Much of which is still unknown with more research and studies needed to be done.
Reference:
Little, J. B. (2012, March 9). How Has Fukushima’s Nuclear Disaster Affected the Environment? Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://www.audubon.org/news/how-has-fukushimas-nuclear-disaster-affected-environment
Lyons, P. C., Okuda, K., Hamilton, M. T., Hinton, T. G., & Beasley, J. C. (2020). Rewilding of Fukushima’s human evacuation zone. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 18(3), 127-134. doi:10.1002/fee.2149