10. Chernobyl's radioactive impact on fauna

The radioactive shock when the Chernobyl reactor exploded in 1986 combined with chronic low-dose contamination has resulted in morphologic, physiologic, and genetic disorders in every animal species that has been studied--mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. These populations exhibit a wide variety of morphological deformities not found in other populations. Despite reports of a "healthy" environment in proximity to Chernobyl for rare species of birds and mammals, the presence of such wildlife is likely the result of immigration and not from locally sustained populations. Twenty-three years after the catastrophe levels of incorporated radionuclides remain dangerously high for mammals, birds, amphibians, and fish in some areas of Europe. Mutation rates in animal populations in contaminated territories are significantly higher and there is transgenerational genomic instability in animal populations, manifested in adverse cellular and systemic effects. Long-term observations of both wild and experimental animal populations in the heavily contaminated areas show significant increases in morbidity and mortality that bear a striking resemblance to changes in the health of humans--increased occurrence of tumor and immunodeficiencies, decreased life expectancy, early aging, changes in blood and the circulatory system, malformations, and other factors that compromise health.