Chernobyl is one of the most catastrophic environmental events in history. The event caused numerous environmental problems that can never be recovered, including wildlife, vegetation and aquifers; however, surprisingly, a change has occurred in recent years, including sightings of many animals whose habitats were destroyed by the event. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was the world's worst nuclear accident and is one of only two events listed as a level 7 event, which is the highest number, the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The disaster began when two completely inexperienced scientists did a test on one of the reactors, during the test the power increased causing a flame to ignite in radioactive material, eventually causing the meltdown. Over 200 million people have been evacuated from Pripyat. The explosion itself killed only a few people, but the long-term effect of the radiation killed over 300,000 people, including 200,000 firefighters, who put their lives in danger to contain the radiation. Environmental damage was widespread immediately after the accident, from wildlife and vegetation to rivers and lakes and even groundwater. The extent of the damage led scientists and government officials to claim that enough radioactive fallout had been injected into the Chernobyl danger zone to damage the ecosystem for more than six decades. This initial assessment couldn't be further from the truth as wildlife abounds even in the hardest hit areas of Chernobyl no more than 20 years after the disaster. The second large dose of radiation emitted from the Chernobyl nuclear accident was transported to a place that is now called In the Red Forest, particles of radiation fell on trees... in the middle of paper... on the ground. Unfortunately, plants and wildlife were not the only living things harmed by the event. Humans have been affected very significantly by the enormous amount of radiation received. After the event, a huge epidemic of thyroid cancer was discovered. Anyone within a 30km radius of the meltdown site is most likely experiencing some signs of radiation problems, if not already present. People affected by radiation did not live as normal lives as they should have, thanks to 2 untrained scientists being tasked with running an entire nuclear power plant. The leading cause of death from radiation is from a cancer called thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer is cancer that begins in the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located in the front of the lower neck. The thyroid produces hormones that regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and weight.