Biosphere 2: A Melding of Art and Science

5 April 2019

About 50 minutes north of Tucson is Biosphere 2, a truly fascinating place.

Biosphere 2 was initially built as a microcosm of the earth, with the premise that the earth is Biosphere 1.  Biosphere 2 was designed to create a closed ecological system which could support human life.  So in 1991, a group of eight people, each specializing in area of knowledge or skill, entered Biosphere 2 and lived in a giant glass pyramid for two years.  This huge glass pyramid was basically an enormous greenhouse!  The scientist grew their own food, had a system set up to filter waste water to make it potable again, dealt with medical problems (other than one rather serious injury that required surgical intervention), all the normal things that are needed to sustain life.

With outside support, since there was also a scientific team monitoring everything.  From oxygen levels to air pressure to the actual structure, scientists were monitoring everything.

If you read Biosphere 2's reports and publicity, this experiment was a major success.  The people grew
their food, handled emergencies, conducted experiments and recorded data, accomplishing all of the major goals of the project.

But if you read the story from others' points of view, well, it wasn't such a success.  It might even be deemed a failure, since there was more support given to the inhabitants than had been planned.  That they really weren't self-sufficient, as first reported.  There were also unexpected issues: the first winter was quite cloudy, so plants for food did not grow as planned and some food items were provided for the people living in the biosphere.  There were structural problems - the Arizona sun overheated the air in the pyramid to the point that engineers feared the glass structure might explode from the air pressure, so a giant "lung" encased in a glass geodesic dome was constructed to allow the pyramid to "breathe" and provide an escape for the expanding hot air.  And the air within the pyramid lost oxygen - some people blame microbacteria using the oxygen, while others say that the uncured concrete actually absorbed some of the oxygen.  Whatever the cause, extra oxygen was pumped into the biosphere because the scientists inside needed to breathe!

Here's the website for Biosphere 2, so you can read about the positives of this experiment: 
http://biosphere2.org/

And here is a link to a recent article in The New York Times which is much more critical of the entire experiment, and tells an entirely different story: 
www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/sunday-review/biosphere-2-climate-change.html 

Eventually, Biosphere 2 was no longer used as a human experiment and became a huge "laboratory" for earth science experiments.  First it was overseen by Columbia University, but since 2011 it has been supervised and administered by the University of Arizona.  Earth science experiments are conducted within the closed environments, which include a desert, a rain forest, even a small ocean and coral reef, complete with a wave machine!!!

The purpose of having a facility like this is that scientists and science students can conduct controlled experiments that they cannot conduct out in the real environment.  Within Biosphere 2, they can control the rainfall, or fog, or flooding, and see how the plants react and respond.  Scientists can control the salinity of the ocean, and record the responses of the sea life within that ocean.  This place is a giant earth science laboratory!

Some facts and figures as posted at Biosphere 2:

"Construction of Biosphere 2 began in 1987.  The facility cost approximately $150 million to build, and was completed in 1991.  Many unique techniques and materials were used to construct Biosphere 2 which contributed to the final cost.

"Interesting facts and figures about Biosphere 2:
 - 3.14 acres under glass
 - 7,200,000 cubic feet of sealed glass
 - 6,600 windows
 - 91 feet tall (30 meters) tall at its highest point
 - Sealed from the earth below by a 500-ton welded stainless steel liner
 - 40-acre campus
 - 300,000 sq ft of administrative offices, classrooms, labs, conference center, and housing
 - The name 'Biosphere 2' derives from the idea that it is modeled on Earth, the first biosphere
 - 3,820 feet (about 1200 m) above sea level.

"Ecosystems under glass include:  Ocean; Mangrove wetlands; Tropical rainforest; Savanna grassland; Fog desert."

Okay, so our experience - we drove north to Biosphere 2, paid the entrance fee, and signed up for a tour.  Visitors can only enter the various buildings accompanied by a guide.  Fortunately for us, the staff suggested a modified tour since our visitors had limited time.  So we had essentially a private tour for the four of us.

The facility looks something like a space age science fiction town.  Many of the buildings utilize geodesic domes, popularized by R. Buckminster Fuller in the late 1960s/early 1970s.  (Fuller assisted with the design of the architecture here.)  Everything was steel and glass, or shiny frosted glass, all glaring in the desert sun.  Very futuristic architecture, especially considering that the buildings are nearly 30 years old!

Biosphere 2 has a wonderful view of the mountains, including Mt Lemmon which is some 9000 feet tall (nearly 3000 meters, or 3 km)!!  In the other direction, there's a view of the desert.  At 3820 feet above sea level, even on a sunny day it wasn't very hot and there was a constant breeze.  But this is too high an elevation for our friends the saguaros, so the landscape was covered with smaller trees and scrubby bushes.  Although it's now spring, so there were clusters of wildflowers scattered around the facility and across the desert.

There were a few large chunks of petrified wood from the petrified forest a bit north of this location.  Also a huge piece of rock full of azurite and malachite, two semi-precious rocks/minerals.  (And really gorgeous in color!)

We walked through several of the environments, spending most of our time in the tropical rainforest.  This is located in the 90 ft tall (30 m) glass pyramid, and it is HUGE!  This is also the building where the scientists lived, grew their food, and all that.

The lemon trees are still growing there.  The coffee bushes are still growing.  The animals that were originally brought in no longer live there; turned out that the bush babies were eating the fruits and vegetables before the humans could get to them!  (No surprise there.)

It really was like being in a huge rainforest.  If you didn't notice the building structure, you'd think you were in some tropical country, not Arizona!

For me, the most interesting environment was the ocean.  Sea water was brought in from the California coast and pumped into this giant sealed fake ocean, a beach was constructed, even an artificial coral reef was added!  A wave machine provides constant water movement, although there really isn't a tide, just constant waves.  There are fish living in the ocean, including shell fish, so that not only is the physical environment studied but also the biology of sea animals.  The entire oceanic ecological system in included for scientific research.

The whole place was fascinating, much more interesting than I had expected it to be.  I really liked the architecture - each building was a piece of art in itself, never mind the scientific side.  I liked the way we could still see the mountains and the sky through all that glass.  I really was so impressed with the visual aspect of this facility!!!  Aesthetic, modernistic, scientifically based, and incredible!!!!

We left right about the time that some after-school groups arrived.  The whole place is really educational as well as inspiring for everyone with an imagination, and/or a scientific mind.

I don't know whether the original project was a success or failure.  But the current incarnation of Biosphere 2 really is worth a visit.

I'll end with some extra large versions of more photos, just so you can see how amazing this place really is!