30 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, wildlife and wild animals are thriving in the radioactive Chernobyl exclusion zone. People are still restricted from inhabiting this contaminated area, and yet the incredible biodiversity than can be found here has flourished due to the absence of humans. The Natural History of Chernobyl. Gray wolves are more abundant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone that in surrounding areas. Bears, wild boars, lynxes, otters, are all found in what is often referred to as the Chernobyl Nature Reserve, on account of this abundance of life. But what are the causes of this diversity? What are the consequences? More from Life Reclaimed: The Bikini Atoll Nuclear Testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3llwcCgucqk

Operation Crossroads, 1946, nuclear testing in Bikini Atoll, a paradise coral reef. In the years after WWII, the Marshall Islands’ remote Bikini Atoll experienced the most powerful nuclear tests that have ever been conducted. Between 1946 and 1958 the United States detonated a series of 23 at Bikini Atoll. These gave out combined fission of 42.2 Mt. The Bikini Atoll reef was decimated, and the marine life in the area destroyed. The blasts left behind the wreckage of more than 70 ships which sunk to the ocean floor. 60 years later, they remain. And life has reclaimed that which was destroyed. Coral reefs grow from the shipwrecks, and Bikini Atoll has become a paradise again, yet it is contaminated. The wrecks of planes and ships mark the wastes like gravestones, giving life to the new reef. It demonstrates the natural world's astouding ability to reclaim that which is lost, but it needs time in order to do so. We need to protect our oceans, and give it time to regenerate the lost biodiversity and habitat diversity caused by human impacts. As shown by the reclamation of Bikini Atoll, there is hope for the planet. Natural History of Chernobyl Documentary: https://youtu.be/1lRIxuWgou8 More from the Awareness Project: Marine Conservation | How to Protect Our Oceans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKrJ-GO4itk Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIs1PZ_MmKM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DNn-oChfb8 Music: Composer: Whitesand (Martynas Lau) Year: 2017 Title: Eternity References and further reading: Brief history before atomic tests: https://www.bikiniatoll.com/history.html Marshall Islands history and culture: http://mistories.org/intro.php UNESCO designation: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1339/