Chernobyl and Other Places Where Animals Thrive Without Humans
October 9th, 2015
Synopsis
In places deemed polluted or too
dangerous for people to live,wildlife populations have suddenly been coming
back strong and taking over the areas. This phenomenon is especially prevalent
in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone in Ukraine, an area evacuated and left
untouched by humans for nearly 30 years. The nuclear accident in Ukraine 1986
is considered one of the worst in history. The accident forced the evacuation
of 116,000 people from 1,600 square miles of land. Now, animals such as
wolves, bears, elk and even deer along with many other species thrive in this
once forbidden area which bridges the border between Ukraine and Belarus. With
its newly gained population, Chernobyl stands as a symbol of life without human
population, as the trees now cover the decaying buildings which people lived
and worked in at one time, and animals reclaim the kingdom. As an earth and
environmental science professor named Smith puts it, "Nature flourishes
when humans are removed from the equation, even after the world's worst nuclear
accident."
Analysis
As humans, when we choose to settle down somewhere, we
often look for places that are suitable for our needs. When an area is not all
that we need it to be, we end up modifying it and building a community. But on
very rare occasions, we end up causing severe damage to the area we choose to
settle in and we are then forced to abandon or leave it due to our actions,
such as the case in this article. In Chernobyl, the nuclear accident caused the
huge evacuation of 116,000 people because of the hazardous chemicals we would
have been exposed to had we chosen to stay there after the accident. Now after
nearly 30 years, wildlife has made its return to Chernobyl. Animals such as the
European lynx and European brown bear have shown up in the area, species which
have not in fact been seen in the region for nearly a century.
As soon as I saw this article, the first thing that
crossed my mind was environmental determinism. Although this belief is that the
physical environment limits human action and forces us to find ways to adapt to
the environment, I feel this article applies to the concept a bit differently.
When we deal with something as serious as a nuclear accident, there is no way
that we as humans can find a way to adapt to the living conditions, therefore
we have to leave the area. In Chernobyl, the new tainted environment determined
that human life was no longer sustainable, but wildlife was. Because of this,
animals have now flocked to this area now forgotten by humans. This can serve
as an abstract example of migrant diffusion, as some of the species found in
Chernobyl shows these creatures thriving and staying strong. Yet once out of
the Chernobyl woods, we begin to see the wildlife population fade out.
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