Secondly, as one animal or insect population diminishes, another one might take its place. This "niche replacement" species might then become contaminated too, reducing its later survival rates. As a result, the ecosystem at Chernobyl has never fully recovered and remains in distress, suggest the recent studies. The findings are a far cry from those made by University of Georgia researchers a little more than a decade after the accident. At that time, Cham Dallas, who is now interim head of Health, Policy and Management at UGA, said that when he held a Geiger counter over rodents, the clicks grew to a roar. "You wouldn't want to handle an animal like that, and yet they are surviving," Dallas then said. He and his colleagues found that although animal populations had "changed," he would not use the word "damaged" because, "We found no deformed animals. None at all." Mousseau and Moller have since identified high mutations in many different species of birds, plants and animals, including humans. Children living near the plant continue to be monitored, as many suffered from thyroid cancer right after the nuclear blast. More recent tests "show significant negative impacts" on the blood cell counts of local children. "The truth is that accidents do happen, so there likely will be a future nuclear accident somewhere," Mousseau warned. "We also face the threat of nuclear terrorism, so I'm hopeful our studies can shed light on the long-term consequences of radiation exposure." Related Links: Jennifer Viegas' Blog: Born Animal HowStuffWorks.com: History in the Making: Meltdown at Chernobyl |
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