The Nuclear Age

In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, the world is now faced with the prospect of a nuclear crisis of a magnitude never before seen on human history. But this is not mankind's fist brush with nuclear crisis.

On August 6th and 9th of 1945 American troops dropped the atomic bombs, "Little Man" and "Fat Boy", on the towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively. The aftermath of which was the near total destruction of both towns and a legacy of radiation poisoning and radiation related diseases. If you have never seen the documentary "White Light, Black rain" I highly recommend you do. It highlights the first hand accounts of the survivors of both bombings, what happened during and after the explosion. Those who were fortunate enough to survive the initial attack faced a battle with radiation related ailments, some dying slowly as their organs were literally cooked from the inside out or their bodies became infested with cancerous tumors. Most Japanese today are unaware of what happened in their own country in 1945, as the government has all but erased those events from their history. It is very sad, for there were lessons to be learned regarding the dangers of nuclear power which were lost to an entire generation.

Chernobyl is another brush with nuclear disaster which mankind faced. April 26, 2011 will mark the 25 year anniversary of the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl. On that day, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine and a radioactive fire burned for 10 days. Almost 200 tons of radioactive material was released into the atmosphere and 70% of was blown by wind into the country of Belarus.

Today, there are still nearly half a million displaced people, many of whom left behind land and homes that have been in their families for generations. Many children born since the disaster have suffered from birth defects, super-sized tumors, and genetic abnormalities like malformed limbs and hydrocephalus (excessive brain fluid). In addition, the rate of thyroid cancer and leukemia has raised 30-50% in children. This is just in the last 20 years, doctors predict that more long term effects will continue to manifest. By long term, I mean spanning generations, as children with genetic abnormalities have children of their own, and people continue to live in an environment where the air they breathe, food they eat and water they drink are contaminated with 10-100 times the normal amount of radioactive material. What is also scary is that 97% of the radioactive materials from the Chernobyl plant remains inside a hastily constructed, crumbling sarcophagus. The structure was meant to be a short-term measure, built to last no more than 20-30 years.

What happened in Chernobyl and the surrounding area is the aftermath of one reactor meltdown. In Japan we are currently looking at two, possibly three (at the time of writing) possible meltdowns. My heart goes out to those who are working diligently to cool the reactors and prevent a disaster for those brave souls are sacrificing their lives to save the world, literally. Most of those first responders are not likely to survive exposure to such high levels of radiation.

If you think Chernobyl and Japan are far away places that has no effect on you or your family, think again. We are all tenants of earth. Air circulates around the globe, ground water moves to rivers, which spill into oceans, which have underwater currents that circumvent the earth. Think about our society and what has happened in terms of the state of our overall health. Cancer rates are on the rise, and many more men and women these days struggle with infertility. We need to wake up and take care of mother earth for she will evict us.

If you want to help the children of Chernobyl, visit the following sites:
Chernobyl Children's Project International

Children of Chernobyl Relief and Development Fund

If you want to help those affected by the devastation in Japan, visit the following sites:

American Red Cross

Save the Children