Day 3: Biosphere 2

      Early in the 1990s, a group of mad scientists locked themselves into Biosphere 2, to live sealed off from the rest of the world, growing their own food and living of their environment.  When they were released two years later, the experiment had been a failure..... or so the media would have us believe. I certainly thought this, as all my information was from the media, and I did not question it.

     We now know that Biosphere 2 was a serious environmental experiment and it wasn't a failure at all, not in the eyes of scientists.  To visit Biosphere 2 is an eye-opening experience. For further information on the history of Biosphere 2 please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2.  My point here is to tell my experience at this fascinating site northwest of Tucson.

The Climates

      There are rooms of different climate landscapes inside Biosphere 2.  I should explain that biosphere 1 is the earth itself and that Biosphere 2 is a lab created earth on a small scale.

Entrance to Biosphere 2

The first terrain we entered was the orchard. Original plants from the time of the first biosphere experiments still grow here, and it was from here that the Biospherians got their fruit.

Figs

 

 

     We then went up a flight of steps and entered the area of savannahs.  I always thought of savannahs being the hot grassy plains of Africa - think Lion King.  I learned that there are at least two kinds of savannahs, dry and moist.  We were in a moist savannah, and the humidity was a bit much for this desert girl!

The "ocean" section viewed from the savannah section.  The Biospherians did experiments with the fish in this "ocean".  However, they did not eat these fish.

         One one side of the savannahs is the rainforest, and it is closed off from the savannahs by a special sealed door.  We were allowed to go in.  WOW!  At the time of the first experiments, there were two sugar babies (google them) living in the rainforest.  However, they kept finding ways to escape and to get into the living quarters of the Biospherians.  Today, there are insects living in the rainforest, and perhaps some some lizards, but no attempt at other animals is being made.  

Rainforest

 

 

 

      On the other side of the savannahs, we walked through salt and fresh water marshes.  Then we went through another sealed lock door into the desert.  This was, at first, a fog mist desert, such as one would find in Baja, near the ocean, but not getting a lot of moisture in the form of rain.  The desert is slowly being changed into a Sonorran Desert type landscape, which is much dryer. 

A desert under glass

Experiment stations still being used in the desert room.

The Mechanics

 

     Under the landscapes are the mechanical rooms that keep everything running.  It is an engineer's dream come true.  The picture below is the south lung, which at the time for the first sealed experiements was used to "breathe" for the building so that oxygen and carbon dioxide where kept at normal levels. I told Susan I felt like I was in the belly of a whale.  During the first sealed experiements the black section at the top of the picture would expand and contract like a lung to keep oxygen and carbon dioxide at normal levels.

       The buildings above are where engineers man stations 24/7.  Experiements are still being conducted at Biosphere 2 and there are people working here year round.



Biosphere 2 Today

      The Univerity of Arizona, located in Tucson, now owns Biosphere 2.  Experiments are being conducted year round.

      These buildings once house the farm areas where the Biospherians grew crops.  Today it is being used for the LEO Project (Landscape Evolution Observatory).  Today's experiements are tracking water and how it is used in the earth.

      The original Biospherians learned from their two years in Biosphere 2 and a few have started up companies that deal with working with the earth and how to live more green.