Chernobyl wildlife documentary of the animals adapting to radiation has recently been released. In the Chernobyl wildlife documentary video, viewers are taken on an inside look at the nuclear reactor's fallout zone and the creatures inside it changing.
It's already 28 years since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant reactor exploded and made a thousand-square-mile part of Ukraine completely uninhabitable. In the Chernobyl wildlife documentary video, University of South Carolina biology professor Timothy Mousseau showed viewers how plants and animals have turned out since the radioactive fallout in the Exclusion Zone in 1986.
According to Take Part, Mousseau has been studying the long-term effects of radiation on plant and animal life since 1999. The Chernobyl wildlife documentary has been produced by the New York Times, and it showcases to the world a tour through the forest a few miles to the west of the plant.
The region has reportedly been made into a wildlife sanctuary by the Ukrainian government in 2007. This is because there have been no humans in the area for such a long time that could kill the wildlife or take down the trees. As shown in the Chernobyl wildlife documentary, the result was a blossoming biodiversity in the region.
Another amazing discovery by Mousseau and his colleagues and was shown in the Chernobyl wildlife documentary is that the animals, insects and plants in the area have adapted and mutated. Take Part said that some are even similar to the mutant butterflies seen after the Fukushima disaster. Beyond doubt, this proves that nature finds a way to survive even without humans.
Times reported last month that Mousseau's team released a study in the journal "Functional Ecology." According to Dr. Mousseau, his longtime collaborator, Anders Pape Moller of the National Center for Scientific Research in France and colleagues, their most recent findings showed some bird species have produced extra protective antioxidants with correspondingly less genetic damage to survive the toxic contamination.
Dr. Mousseau said that for the birds shown in the Chernobyl wildlife documentary, chronic exposure to radiation emerges to be a kind of "unnatural selection" which resulted in the evolutionary change.
However, the NY Times said that this doesn't mean the plants and animals shown in the Chernobyl wildlife documentary video is radiation free. Despite all this discovery, it's still quite frightening to see Mousseau's radiation detector buzzing as he holds it next to the creatures.
The levels of radiation in the area are reportedly higher than normal. According to the NY Times, a person staying 10 days in the area would be exposed to as much background radiation as a common resident of the United States would receive from all sources in a year.
Dr. Mousseau said, "This level of chronic exposure is above what most species will tolerate without showing some signs, either in terms of how long they live or in the number of tumors they have, or genetic mutations and cataracts." As shown in the Chernobyl wildlife documentary video, the place is "a perfect laboratory setting" for Mousseau's team.
Dr. Mousseau added that ionizing radiation, such as the one produced by cesium, strontium and other radioactive isotopes, affect living tissue in several ways. One of these is the breaking strands of DNA, which was shown in the Chernobyl wildlife documentary video. However, a high dose can reportedly cause sickness or death.
The NY Times said that this is what happened to dozens of technicians and firefighters at the Chernobyl plant when its Unit 4 reactor exploded on Apr. 26, 1986. These people experienced lethal doses of radiation which caused their organs and tissues to become badly damaged in just a few minutes. All of them died within weeks.
High doses are lethal. Meanwhile, relatively low doses of radiation may have little or no effect, says Dr. Mousseau. Little to no effect doesn't necessarily mean harmless, as genetic mutations caused by lower doses include cancers and other physical problems which could show up after longer periods. It can also affect breeding and longevity.
Chernobyl wildlife documentary video is therefore important as studying the effects of radiation on animals and insects can lead to a better understanding of its impact on people as well.
To watch the Chernobyl wildlife documentary, see video below.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
