Three times in the world’s long history has a nuclear event occurred of such an epic proportion that residents will never be able to return to the places they lived. In 2011 a tsunami hit Fukushima, Japan causing a nuclear meltdown, the consequences of which we are just now beginning to see. A man recently documented the plant life which is returning to the desolated city, it reveals the devastating effects of the leftover radiation, and demonstrates why Fukushima may never again be inhabited by human beings again. These mutated flowers are just the first signs of the long-term destruction caused by the nuclear disaster.
The Nuclear Fallout
When a nuclear disaster occurs it takes time for any forms of life to return to the place that has been decimated by nuclear radiation. Usually a few years later some life will resurface, but anything able to survive will be noticeably affected by all of the high radiation levels. A man on twitter posted photos of what are mutated flowers some 60 miles from the main disaster area. Levels of radiation are high enough that far from the main area that the stems twist and merge, and the actual mutated flowers are bizarre and grotesque looking.
The Long Term Implications
While the long-terms effects of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima are still not fully known, these small mutated flowers are a good indication that the consequences will be severe and long-lasting. During the course of the disaster large amounts of nuclear waste poured into the ocean, and the effects have been studied very little since the disaster. While there has been nothing conclusively stating exactly what damage has been done to the ocean as a result of the disaster, these mutated flowers represent the beginning of a series of evidence of damage to the planet, and in coming years we will see exactly how bad the ocean conditions are as a result.
These effects have been seen before, but that doesn’t make what is occurring any less appalling
It’s certainly not the first time that long term has been recorded from a nuclear meltdown. Images have been taken from not only the mutated flowers around Chernobyl, but the people who lived in the area and were not able to be evacuated prior to the massive meltdown that occurred. As more images like these mutated flowers near the Fukushima disaster site trickle in, we will see exactly what effect disasters as a result of nuclear proliferation have on planet Earth.
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