A community dedicated to examples of nature fighting back and reclaiming aspects of human civilization. Be it whole buildings, simple structures, or smaller items.
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Post only content that features nature overcoming man and man-made objects. Original content is especially welcomed.
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Source Gallery: https://izismile.com/2019/06/26/nature_takes_chernobyl_back_65_pics.html
Archived Source Gallery: https://web.archive.org/web/20240317193848/https://izismile.com/2019/06/26/nature_takes_chernobyl_back_65_pics.html
The gallery has more photos such as this.
FYI it has been ~40 years
19,960 years left to go until it is habitable again
I bet I could live there and be fine. The pesky Russians might want to kick me out though
Pripyat and Chernobyl are in Ukraine :)
There are (or were?) guided tours, but for a really good view of what it's like there, I recommend Shiey's Journey Across Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
He's a Lithuanian YouTuber and thrill-seeker who illegally went there and had to run from security at one point, too. He found lots of signs of other "Stalkers," including a group in the flesh that invited him for dinner.
I wonder if he was trying to say invading forces might want to kick him out.
Yes
While the background radiation levels aren't exceptionally dangerous and people do live in the exclusion zone, there are a large number of radioactive hotspots that could be extremely dangerous. They're small pieces of the reactor core that were spread around by the explosion, and they're extremely radioactive still. If you inhaled one or if you were to eat a plant or animal that had eaten/absorbed one it could do a significant amount of damage to you. Kyle Hill has some really good videos on this topic.
Kiyv oblast is not Russian last time I checked. The bears, wolves and workers might have a bone to pick with you though.
Aren't Russian troops still there though?
No. They have left the place almost two years already
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/russians-leave-chornobyl-as-fighting-rages-elsewhere-1.5842259
That's Chenobyl power plant, but the city is Pripyat.
50,000 people used to live here. Now it's a ghost town.
"Fifty thousand people used to live here. Now, it’s a ghost town."
It's got what plants crave
Before was still quite pretty
You can clearly see that the "before" picture was taken years after the disaster....
The "after" is also fairly old - at least before the new safe confinement was built. Here's what it looked like around 6 years ago: 
(Apologies for the quality, on mobile and had to shrink it to get it to upload)
Or it could be the USSR where people cannot afford cars, there is no money for building mainenance and everyone is at work right now ... /s
You can clearly see plants growing out of the concrete, based on the videos that exists of Pripyat from before the disaster that is not what it looked like.
Pripyat was a privileged town where people lived well.
So you're telling me we should have more nuclear meltdowns?
Don't tell my wife.
If you are interested in this, you have to see a youtube video of an adventurous guy with a channel called Shiey, backpacking to the region and staying overnight. Such an incredible journey.
The buildings fell down by themselves after decades of neglect or they were torn down?
No one touched them. Most are still standing, just now in a nearly 40 year old forest.
Nice quiet neighborhood with beautiful mature trees!
I think they are still there just completely covered. Look where the buildings along the middle were. It's different.
Well I'll be darned, zoom the lower photo and there are the buildings, peeking from behind the folliage.
I think the pictures were taken from a slightly different angle as well. The buildings seem a bit farther away in the after image.
the before wasn't actually that bad compared to most places
Wow, what a glow up! The second greatest it experienced.
I remember reading a while ago that Chernobyl has become a flourishing nature preserve. While animals have a health risk from radiation, it's still a smaller health hazard than living near human settlements. It's sad that our civilization is more destructive than an open nuclear core.
To be fair, it's not open any more.
I don't think it is fully understood, but there is some evidence that the wolves are becoming cancer resistant
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a46799706/mutant-wolves-of-chernobyl/
Must have a great town planning strategy.
[email protected] is just like that without the radiation (well, there are NPPs and radiation can affect public health, but it's not Tschernobyl: The Game and more Pripjat: 1960-1986)
Soviet city planning: there are never enough trees