A team of researchers have revealed that a specific species of local butterfly in Japan have mutated since the Fukushima disaster back in March 2011. The species and the massive changes in physical and genetic development suggest that radiation levels continue to be a threat in the region, and may also serve as indicator of how slowly the breakdown of radioactive materials might be.

After over a year of research, the group published their findings in the scientific journal, Nature, and roundly concluded that, ‘radionuclides from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant caused physiological and genetic damage to this species.