Biosphere 2

Biosphere is a research center, north of Tucson, where entire "biomes" can be created and studied. A "biome" is a specific environment such as desert, rain forest, ocean, ect. In addition to existing biomes, three new biomes are being created, one with a normal CO2 content, one with CO2 levels from millions of years ago when CO2 levels were extreme from violent volcanic activity and one with CO2 levels that are projected for the year 2050. The study is aimed at understanding what effects our ever increasing levels of CO2 will have on the plants and animals. Before any study is conducted many months of research are performed to discover a mix of plants and animals that will create a self sustaining biome. For example, we saw an oceanic biome that includes many plants and fish that have been surviving without human care or feeding for seven years. There is no other research facility on earth like it except for Biosphere-1, which is the earth and it's protective atmospheric layers.

Below are pictures we took during our visit to Biosphere. Mitch and Max have provided the captions.

This is Biosphere-2. 8 people lived here for 2 years in an air-tight building. They did not come outside.
Mitch

This building is the test lab. This is where they test the plants to see if they can live in Biosphere. They also grow fruits and vegetables.
MAX

Here, we are listening to our guide telling us about the "lung" and the test lab. The lung is a building that keeps a different building from exploding. It explodes when too much heat gets in and builds up pressure inside. The building is air-tight.
Mitch

This is a spider we saw on a leaf. It keeps smaller insects from eating the plants. It's also food for birds, reptiles and larger animals.
Mitch

This is the largest lizard we saw. it was 3 feet long.
Mitch

There are lots of animals in the Biosphere. One is the frog. Do you see the other animal in this picture?
Mitch

This reptile is part of the food chain in Biosphere 2. There are ants and lots of other insects there too.
Max

This is Biosphere. It is 95 feet tall and it is the most air-tight building in the world. There are several different biomes. A biome is a particular environment. Some of the biomes in Biosphere are desert, rain forest and ocean.
Max

These are college students which go into the biosphere every day and study.
Mitch

There was a section with lots of hands-on displays that taught about different kinds of pollution and the future.
Max

This is the kitchen where the Biospherians cooked. They ate only things they got from Biosphere. They ate meat every other Saturday from the pigs and chickens they raised.
Mitch

This is a bell. This bell is a metal sculpture. There used to be a whole bunch of different metal sculptures there. Now this is the only one.
Mitch

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