Gross-Misconduct Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Great article about the zombie trees in Chernobyl. Kinda freaky and reinforces the fact that we still have lot's to learn about the affects of nuclear fallout. But we are all safe from that Japan thing, right? Right? Life and death in Chernobyl’s ghost forest. A Canadian has discovered that radioactive trees aren’t decomposing, suggesting that fallout may be even more dangerous than we realize. Share on Facebook WILLIAM DANIELS / The New York Times Canadian scientist Timothy Mousseau, right, has been studying the exclusion zone around Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant (seen in the background), making more than 30 trips to study the effects of radiation on the environment. By: Mitch Potter Washington Bureau, Published on Mon May 19 2014 SLAVUTYCH, UKRAINE—Very few people understand the radioactive afterglow of Chernobyl as well as Canadian scientist Tim Mousseau, who has dedicated 15 years to unravelling the ecological and evolutionary consequences of the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe. But for all the impacts he has seen in his more than 30 field trips to Ukraine since 1991, none was so eerie as his close-up encounter with the ghost forest of dead trees that lingers to this day inside the radioactive no-go zone north of Kyiv. “We were trudging through the Red Forest, the area most heavily contaminated. And we noticed that many of these trees — trees that were killed in the initial blast in 1986 — were sitting there relatively intact,” says Mousseau. “You squeezed them and they were hard. Trees that died that many years ago, they should be mostly sawdust. They shouldn’t exist. But they do.” Something else struck him as strange — the leaf litter underfoot was thick. As much as three times thicker than in less-contaminated areas of Chernobyl’s 2,500-square-kilometre exclusion zone. “It was like walking on mattresses,” he says. Mousseau and his team already had their hands full researching the fallout on birds, insects and people inhabiting the region. But faced with anecdotal evidence of an abrupt halt in the natural cycle of decomposition — no ashes to ashes, dust to dust, no microbial breakdown, just organic material frozen in time — the zombie trees and piling leaves demanded serious scrutiny. Seven years ago, the nature-testing work began. And only now do we have answers. The peer-reviewed findings, published in the science journal Oecologia in March, confirm a microbial dead zone at Chernobyl’s ground zero. It took nearly 600 bags of test material — carefully placed bundles of leaves from the same species of Scotch pine, birch, maple and oak that grew majestically in the forest immediately downwind from the meltdown at reactor No. 4. The test bags were spread far and wide to vary the radioactive dose. Some were wrapped in mesh, enabling insects to join the feast; others in pantyhose to measure breakdown by microbes and fungi alone. After the first year, the leaves in areas with no radiation were 70 to 90 per cent gone. Those nearest the hot zone were still about 60 per cent intact by weight. Moreover, microbes and fungi appeared to make the difference. They, and not insects, played the bigger role in breaking down the leaves and returning nutrients to the soil — and radiation, the study shows, is interrupting the process. “We were just overwhelmed by the magnitude of the (radiation) effect,” Mousseau said. “We’re trained to be skeptics and so when you walk through these areas, in the back of your mind you tend to doubt what appears to be obvious but may or may not be the reality. And so we were very surprised at how strong a signal came through. “When we did the analysis we said, ‘Oh my God. This is huge.’” It might surprise some to know that the ghost trees of Chernobyl sat intact for 28 years without once falling under the gaze of science until Mousseau and his team came along. But it is far less surprising as you travel the region, which remains a dead zone of another sort, its human periphery imprisoned still by the memories of April and May 1986. Full Article http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/05/19/life_and_death_in_chernobyls_ghost_forest.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 How cool this is. In the sense that we are still discovering the extent of the damge, not the incident itself. As a photography lover I dream of visiting the abandoned areas around the site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue90 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 omg are the trees releasing radioactive oxygen?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Been living here in Japan, so very interested in these long-term studies. Couple yrs back, read an account compiled from a Russian journalist, who'd interviewed 100's of local people on the Chernobyl disaster. Residents, & initial reaction teams(or their surviving loved ones); many transported in from Russia. Harrowing..so many examples of horror, tragedy & bravery throughout. I recall in the last chapter, one Ukrainian doctor/scientist who did lab-work on rodents(shortly after the incident) to expose genetic-effects on subsequent generations. After local media detailed his findings, he was incarcerated & denounced by Russian authorities. To think the whole incident was precipitated by a faulty safety check/system-test, conducted by inexperienced technicians(on a Fri nite), while working an unpopular shift. Good ol' human-error... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denguin Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 How cool this is. In the sense that we are still discovering the extent of the damge, not the incident itself. As a photography lover I dream of visiting the abandoned areas around the site Cool, but also somewhat frightening that a man-made project has resulted in and maintained the wiping out of the simplest of microbes that are essential to life still decades later. Better hope they get Japan under complete control, otherwise we'll reap the consequences on the West Coast (or perhaps we already are). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 There was an episode of Vice that I saw, where they reported on an old cold war, nuclear testing site in Kazakhstan. The locals have a greatly increased incidence of birth defects, even three generations later. There's plenty that we have still to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Do the trees and plant's whisper...."FEED ME!?!!?!". The Triffids are here!!!! AAAAAAGH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Do the trees and plant's whisper...."FEED ME!?!!?!". The Triffids are here!!!! AAAAAAGH! ^John Wyndham would certainly love reading this article. 'Day Of The Triffids' was a cool read. 'The Chrysalids' as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 ^John Wyndham would certainly love reading this article. 'Day Of The Triffids' was a cool read. 'The Chrysalids' as well... Maybe some Russians have some extra toes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthNinja Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Maybe some Russians have some extra toes? I wouldn't mind a third eye, would you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogbyte Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 It seems perfectly reasonable to me that if nuclear action is radioacticve fission or half life that is extremely quick than it's alter effect would be extremely long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gross-Misconduct Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 I wouldn't mind a third eye, would you? If our anti-nuclear nay-sayers and choose-upsiders were to come upon an elephant frolicking in the waters next to a nuclear power plant, they'd probably blame his ridiculous nose on the nuclear boogeyman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tre Mac Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Whats the best thing to come from Chernobyl? Maria Sharapova Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Been living here in Japan, so very interested in these long-term studies. Couple yrs back, read an account compiled from a Russian journalist, who'd interviewed 100's of local people on the Chernobyl disaster. Residents, & initial reaction teams(or their surviving loved ones); many transported in from Russia. Harrowing..so many examples of horror, tragedy & bravery throughout. I recall in the last chapter, one Ukrainian doctor/scientist who did lab-work on rodents(shortly after the incident) to expose genetic-effects on subsequent generations. After local media detailed his findings, he was incarcerated & denounced by Russian authorities. To think the whole incident was precipitated by a faulty safety check/system-test, conducted by inexperienced technicians(on a Fri nite), while working an unpopular shift. Good ol' human-error... You can trace the emergence of africanized honey bees to a single beekeeper covering for his boss on while he was on vacation.......not as flashy, but almost as devestating, maybe more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 You can trace the emergence of africanized honey bees to a single beekeeper covering for his boss on while he was on vacation.......not as flashy, but almost as devestating, maybe more Way to be a buzz kill, stawns.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Whats the best thing to come from Chernobyl? Maria Sharapova No argument on that one. Drool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Ed Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Another one of Russia's great contributions to Ukraine and the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Whats the best thing to come from Chernobyl? Maria Sharapova Compared to the other girls in her sport she is gorgeous. Compared to your average girl anywhere she is... well average looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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