In these recent years and months of natural and unnatural disaster (with the gulf oil spill, groundbreaking earthquakes, city-leveling hurricanes, and beach crashing tsunamis), we’ve all come to realize that the improbable is much more possible than we thought.

In the growing advent of natural disaster around the world, I saw a program on The National Geographic Channel concerning the life processes on Earth after the eradication of humans. The program mentioned nuclear power plants, another very possible disaster that we might like to keep our eyes on as we cautiously creep into the future in these times of increasing catastrophe.

The short-term and long-term effects of neglecting the power plant are inconceivable. Just ten days without maintenance, an unmanned nuclear power plant would result in a nuclear explosion 500 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, leaving a wasteland the size of the state of Alabama. The program explained that plutonium would to last for 250,000 years and spread radioactive waste across the land while carried on the winds, contaminating everything in its path. The radiation would damage the chlorophyl in all plant life that it came into contact with.

If you slept through your biology class and smeared your notes with drool, I’ll remind you that chlorophyl is a key component for photosynthesis and results in the green coloration in plant life. With the chlorophyl radioactively damaged, all tainted plants would turn a malevolent crimson red. Combine that with the ash and debris that settled and the radioactivity, and you’ve got tainted badlands.

I made a quick Google search and I found that much of the continental United States harbors nuclear power plants, especially in the East, but with toxic plutonium carried on the winds safety may not even be possible in the continental US or even this part of the world. Who knows? The “safe” states are as follows: Montana, North Dakota, western South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and West Texas.

Photo original and manipulated version uploaded by Ryan Hochstatter. Retains all rights.