/nuclear-disaster-fallout-chernobyl-evol

#tchernobyl #nucléaire

The grasshoppers are one small illustration of how Mother Nature has a habit of clawing her way back from the brink, making adjustments, and reclaiming the scraps cast off by humanity. Following the disaster that 1986 spring, the rest of the year was hard for plants and animals in the zone, where their health and reproductive abilities were negatively affected. Many of these populations have since rebounded, and as of 2015, the populations of mammals within the zone are similar to those in a nearby, unaffected area.

Such resilience is remarkable, considering that the most radioactive parts of the zone will be unsafe for human habitation for 20,000 years. With human interactions limited to about 200 elderly samosely (“self-setters”) begrudgingly allowed to stay, the forests around Chernobyl is now a de facto wildlife sanctuary.