2/14/18 Biosphere 2

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.  We woke up to clouds this morning with a threat of rain so instead of walking outside, we opted to visit Biosphere 2.  The property was developed from 1984-86 as a research facility to study and develop self-sustaining space-colonization technology.  Human missions took place from 1991-94 with teams of eight plus a medical doctor.  The people were sealed in for two years and were able to be self sufficient - growing their own food, etc.  After the second team went through, Columbia University took over and now it is run by the University of Arizona.  It is no longer a sealed facility, but is used as a research laboratory for environmental studies.  We went on a guided tour and walked through a rainforest containing over 90 different plant species some more than 60 feet tall, a small ocean area with man-made wave action, a mangrove area, a hydroponic area where fish are in the upper tank and their waste (nitrogen) filters though the plant areas where the micro-organisms in the soil change the waste to fertilizer.  As you can see the lemon is quite large for the small size of the tree.  The last area is a fog desert - more in tune with the deserts near the Pacific Ocean because of the high humidity in the air.  We then walked into the basement to see the myriad of water pipes, air controls and a room called the lung with changes the air pressure and volume.  The glass enclosed area is a bit over 3 acres and there are 6500 windows.  It is 91 feet tall at its highest point.  Many scientists work here to see what effect different factors have on the environment.  For example, the average carbon dioxide level on Earth is 400 parts/million.  When the level was raised to between 600-700 parts, the rain forest began to emit carbon dioxide instead of oxygen - quite a scary thought.  Our last stop was to visit a lunar greenhouse.  It contained strawberries, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes - it looked very healthy.  It was raining quite hard when we finished exploring.  I'm sure the plants and cacti were VERY happy!  Apparently, it is supposed to rain all night and into tomorrow.  It is a big change from our 2 1/2 weeks of sunshine.