Yesterday's post showed that we humans can actually redeem ecosystems from our environmental sins. Along that same vein, The New York Times published an article today about how biological life is adapting to the extreme conditions that the region around Chernobyl was exposed to. The 1986 nuclear power plant disaster spewed very high amounts of radiation into the local atmosphere that spread globally. However, much of that radiation fell back to the ground, contaminating the surrounding region. This had serious impacts on the flora and fauna in the area, including the death of forests. For reasons of public safety, an exclusion zone extending out 18.6 miles in all directions from the power plant was set up, preventing people from living in the 1,000 square mile area for at least 50 years.
Ongoing scientific research on the mass radiation event's effect on the surrounding environment has yielded interesting results. As the article and various other studies have pointed out, while biological life did suffer in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, it has done extremely well since. It has even provided unique insight into adaptation and selective events which put pressure on different species. The article in the Times is well worth the read and provides a unique glimpse into the resiliency of nature. It may suffer horrendous blows, but somehow life finds a way to survive, though not always the same as it was before. It will be very interesting to see how nature has "reclaimed" and progressed throughout the exclusion zone since humans don't have a chance to incorporate land management plans here.
Ongoing scientific research on the mass radiation event's effect on the surrounding environment has yielded interesting results. As the article and various other studies have pointed out, while biological life did suffer in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, it has done extremely well since. It has even provided unique insight into adaptation and selective events which put pressure on different species. The article in the Times is well worth the read and provides a unique glimpse into the resiliency of nature. It may suffer horrendous blows, but somehow life finds a way to survive, though not always the same as it was before. It will be very interesting to see how nature has "reclaimed" and progressed throughout the exclusion zone since humans don't have a chance to incorporate land management plans here.
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