Some ten years ago, Edward Bass had a dream. It was a
really wild dream involving the environment and human endurance.
Ed believed that life on Earth is self-regulating, that is, air,
water and soil are recycled and purified by the natural processes
that sustain life. His dream was to prove this theory beyond any
doubt by building a structure capable of sustaining human life
indefinitely, such as would be needed in a space colony on
another planet. The difference between his dream and many of ours
was that Ed Bass was a Texas millionaire, and could afford his. So
one day he went out into the Arizona desert and built an
environmentally sealed greenhouse, which became known as
Biosphere II, biosphere I being the Earth itself. The thought,
design, and engineering that went into this project rivals any
science fiction story told today. Out of the sand grew a giant
glass-domed structure, glistening in the desert sun. Completely
sealed off from all outside air, and water, this 91 foot high
structure, covering some 3.15 acres, using 6000 glass panels to
enclose the 7.l2 million cubic feet which made up the world
within. Standing as a planet unto itself, it would finally house over 3,500 plants
and animals, spread out over the five eco systems that it
supported. Into this world was built all manner of things,
plants, crops, even an ocean complete with a tide. Such was the
detailed design. The final element was added on September 26,
1991 when 4 men and 4 women entered the structure and were sealed
inside for two years. The story of their triumphs and failures,
and the controversies it raised are still told today. Criticized
by the scientific community because of the use of outside
electricity, some food stores and other feed, the experiment
struggled on for two years when oxygen ran short and had to be brought in from the
outside. The controversy would rage on until Ed Bass abandoned
his effort to create a self-sustained human environment in 1995.
The building was acquired by Columbia University of New York who
has operated it ever since. Today the original building still
stands, now surrounded by a scientific community, hotel and
restaurant. We had arranged to meet with David Nivison, Director
of Marketing on a bright and sunny afternoon. David extended a
gracious invitation to tour the facility. He stayed with us for a
while explaining some of the history and the present
experiments that were going on. They now use parts of the
building for environmental experiments. One of the examples is
the area that contains many Cottonwood Trees. These trees were
cloned from the same tree so that they would all react the same.
One area contains the same Carbon Dioxide that would have existed
several years ago. Another one contains the Carbon Dioxide that
might be on the earth 50 years from now. They can
also alter the temperatures, light, rainfall, etc. In the rest of
the buildings, they allow visitors to either tour on their own or
take tours provided by the institute. As part of the University,
there are approximately 100 students there from all over the
world doing research work for which they will get credits from
Columbia. The tour we took allowed us to go "behind the
scenes". It was here that we made friends with an
effervescent and wonderfully knowledgeable lady who supplied us
with all kinds of facts and figures about the past and present
conditions of the Biosphere II. Jane Taber stayed with us all the
way through the tour. We went down into the basement area and
were able to see the inner workings.
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