Listen up class; Today I will be teaching you about Biosphere 2. First, you need to know that it was a major sealed glasshouse near the small town of Oracle, north of Tucson in the desert of Arizona. Also, you should know it was designed to support a large population of humans, that ate plants grown in the Agro-forestry. This place, was known to "recycle" Oxygen, which caused constant changes in their air volume. Be aware that these changes were caused by "solar heating," meaning that sun collectors absorbed heat. Sadly,The intense heat from the sun, the desert, and the greenhouse;
caused the first eight people who entered, to have problems. Prior to that, those who stayed longer than four months, became weak. This is because the vegetables grown were diseased, as you will later read. Next, low Oxygen levels, caused fatigue, other wise known as altitude sickness. Then, to make matters worse, the nitrous oxide and CO2 levels rose. To fix this issue, scientists created "Giant lungs" or windows that opened to the exterior; allowing fresh air to enter the glass house. Specifically, photosynthesis played a huge role in the downfall of biosphere 2, and these complications led to the cell respiration issues amongst the humans. Sunlight that was absorbed in to both the Agro-forestry became too much causing reactions in the new soil. The soils were an artificial mixture, that released a heavy amount of CO2. this caused Oxygen depletion, that was contributed by the high organic matter content in original soils. Because humans did not have enough food to feed each other, they ate vegetables, chickens, pigs, and seeds. They did not have enough food to feed their animals so the chicken, and pigs were ate immediately. In contrast, to the plants were diseased, and caused the humans to feel ill. In addition, the oxygen levels were lowering, because of the air leakages. You may have some questions, and that's okay, but you should be asking... How could the scientists make so many mistakes? Well, the mixture of soils released CO2, the construction was not completely stable, causing air leakages and too much sun absorption, and not enough food supply. However, one question remains; Was Biosphere 2 useful? Yes, because it focused attention on human interaction, resource usage, and the maintenance of a complex ecosystem.
