In March 2011, a devastating tsunami struck Japan, causing a meltdown in three of Fukushima’s nuclear reactors. Though it’s generally regarded as the most alarming and destructive nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, mainstream scientists consistently downplay the risk of radiation from the reactors. Meanwhile, troubling mutations and anomalies in the local ecosystem continue to surface.
The latest visual evidence—photographs of mutated daisies going viral on the Web—suggests residual damage that may or may not extend beyond the immediate area. Four years after the disaster, we can now add deformed plant life to the growing list of ecosystem damage.
Twitter user @San_kaido from the city of Nasushiobara, who posted the photo 110 kilometers from Fukushima, describes it in detail:
The right one grew up, split into 2 stems to have 2 flowers connected each other, having 4 stems of flower tied belt-like. The left one has 4 stems grew up to be tied to each other and it had the ring-shaped flower. The atmospheric dose is 0.5 μSv/h at 1m above the ground.
The Internet erupted with reactions to the images. Some people claimed the photos were doctored while several scientists say the abnormalities may be caused by a hormonal imbalance called fasciation — though they stopped short of completely ruling out radiation as the culprit.
These daisies aren’t the first sign of extreme environmental damage. The science magazine Journal of Heredity published a series of articles about the nuclear damage inflicted upon the local biological organisms in the region.
“A growing body of empirical results from studies of birds, monkeys, butterflies, and other insects suggests that some species have been significantly impacted by the radioactive releases related to the Fukushima disaster,” it reported.
Further studies by the group are focusing on possible abnormalities in mitochondrial DNA, which, notably, were one of the tragic results of the infamous 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Other research has focused on “mutant vegetables,” which include “a giant tomato apparently bubbling with tumors, a five-fingered turnip, and two peaches which have grown into figures of eight.”
Additionally, while insects are generally considered resistant to radiation, butterflies aren’t so lucky. For several years, studies conducted by researchers have shown that radionuclides, including iodine-131 and cesium-134/137, are having a measurable effect on the butterflies in the region.
As Livescience explained,
Butterflies netted six months after the release had more than twice as many abnormalities as insects plucked two months following the release, the team found. The rise in mutations means radiation from the accident is still affecting the butterflies’ development, even though levels in the environment have declined.
Despite the aforementioned evidence of widespread genetic abnormalities, the general scientific consensus remains cautiously optimistic that the radiation released from Fukushima is not a danger to animals or humans outside of the immediate affected area.
“Though [cesium] isotopes are elevated 10 to 1,000 [times] over prior levels in waters off Japan, radiation risks due to these radionuclides are below those generally considered harmful to marine animals and human consumers, and even below those from naturally occurring radionuclides,” said marine scientist Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
マーガレットの帯化(那須塩原市5/26)② 右は４つの花茎が帯状に繋がったまま成長し，途中で２つに別れて２つの花がつながって咲いた。左は４つの花茎がそのまま成長して繋がって花が咲き輪の様になった。空間線量0.5μSv地点(地上高1m) pic.twitter.com/MinxdFgXBC
— 三悔堂 (@san_kaido) May 27, 2015
What do you think? Is radiation from Fukushima an overblown global conspiracy theory? Or is it a legitimate concern for people outside of Japan?
Jake Anderson writes for theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
Jake Anderson joined Anti-Media as an independent journalist in April of 2015. His topics of interest include social justice, science, corporatocracy, and dystopian science fiction. He currently resides in Escondido, California. Learn more about Anderson here!
Excellent article that raises excellent questions and uses solid sources to support the thesis. We need more good citizen journalism and scholarship like this to fight back at the NWO.
On a related note, Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds recently put out a video in which he stated two hair raising facts:
1. Japan has rejected any help from foreign engineers to solve the Fukushima crisis. Their icewall has failed (as I wrote about at activist post when they started building it a few months ago, it was a boondoggle to line pockets) but they blunder on, now having leaked 23,000 truckloads of contaminated water into the Pacific.
2. The big banks (who is behind them I wonder, maybe we can find out if we go to tomatobubble.com and read the new book by Mike King, “Planet Rothschild”) who loaned money to the Japanese utility companies (namely Tepco) want their money back as the reactors idle. The Japanese public are against the restarts but they must be restarted so the banks can recover their losses! Sounds like Greece, the banks will get their pound of flesh even if it kills everyone! (taking someone’s pound of flesh most likely will kill the victim).
– Richard Wilcox, Reporting From Tokyo
I’d love to answer that last question but a lack of info, not enough studies, and the time it may take for damage to manifest- or not- makes it a difficult situation to assess. Obviously TPTB are downplaying the damage and risks, while other sources issue unfounded apocalyptic pronouncements; the serious distress of the eastern Pacific ecosystem, however, seems to support far more worrying issues than are being acknowledged. But without more time, more data, more studies, it’s almost impossible to say just how bad this disaster really is. Good to see the issuee being kept on the radar. It’s far from over, that’s all I can say with absolute confidence.
This is a very common natural occuring mutation.
This writer is a disgusting example of nuclear PR Firms lapdog I am not going to use activist post anymore . For you to claim
the radiation released
from Fukushima is not a danger to animals or humans outside of the
immediate affected area. Read more at: http://tr.im/8uZw6
that the radiation
released from Fukushima is not a danger to animals or humans outside of
the immediate affected area. Read more at: http://tr.im/8uZw6
the radiation released
from Fukushima is not a danger to animals or humans outside of the
immediate affected area. Read more at: http://tr.im/8uZw6the Radiation stays in the general area when they Still Can not eat the meat or drink the milk in parts of the UK 28 years after Chernobyl is sicking disheartening and shows how irrelevant you are to facts documentation or reality . This story is a utterly disgusting coverup and misrepresentation of common facts , how can you even sleep at night is amazing disturbing and leaves me in a rage . Dana Durnford aka thenuclearproctologist
I’ve been hearing this from a few different sources…I sorts follow this guy on youtube called thunderfoot and he claims the same thing. You don’t have anything to worry about unless you standing next to the reactors…the notion that radiation has been found on the west coast of the US and Canada is silly he claims, radiation can’t swim that far. Besides, theres so much radiation in the background air anyways, that Fukashima wouldn’t make a difference.
People who claim this are lunatics in my opinion. Radiation is no friend to humans. In case you haven’t heard, it kills motherfuckers. I’m of the opinion that Fukashima will be what takes out the human race all together. You can thank the evil assholes in tel-aviv for this one. Suxnet for the win!!!
When you live in a country like Japan whose government Elite tell the people that “Smiling and Drinking Beer” will prevent the effects of radiation…. Should we expect these same Elite to tell the truth in any other matters?
Wouldn’t that be like expecting Obama to tell the truth as well?
1120 lies and counting: https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/obama-252/