Wildlife around Chernobyl

Hi everyone,

The other day at the end of class, we touched on the subject of nuclear-related deformities and whether they were a legitimate concern or mostly hype.  I found this pretty thorough and interesting article on wildlife around Chernobyl, which argues that both the health and diversity of the area's ecosystem counters the assumption that radiation is always detrimental to living things (although the animals at the scene contain high levels of radiation in their bodies, they generally function normally, with no defects).  In fact, the article posits the idea that human disruption of natural spaces could have more to do with the population decline of wild species than environmenal radiation exposure does.  Obviously not everyone agrees, but reading this definitely makes me appreciate how resilient life is and gives me a little more hope for the future.   

Here is the article: Do Animals in Chernobyl's Fallout Zone Glow?

Nola Weber