A biosphere designed for the 1967 World Expedition on St Helen's Island in Montreal, QuebecWIKIMEDIA, RENE EHRHARDTRecall the biosphere experiments from the 1990s, the most famous of which was perhaps Biosphere II. Philanthropist Ed Bass provided $200 million to construct the largest completely enclosed ecosystem ever created. Biologists and engineers spent 4 years designing and landscaping Biosphere II to have all of the systems needed to sustain life: agriculture for food production, rainforests to regulate the artificial atmosphere, even a mini-ocean to control temperature. On September 26th, 1991, eight researchers were locked inside the airtight, closed environment. Almost immediately after, levels of CO2 inside Biosphere II began to skyrocket and fluctuate wildly. Levels of oxygen began a precipitous decline from 21 percent to a dangerously low 14 percent. Most of the vertebrate species and all of the pollinating insects died within a year, and pests like cockroaches and ants boomed. The “mission” was ultimately terminated after just 24 months when it became clear that human health and welfare could no longer be guaranteed.
Whether one views Biosphere II as a monumental failure or magnificent learning experience, it was a sobering reminder that we still don’t have even a basic understanding of how to design a biological system that can sustain human life. Obviously, this means we’re not yet in a position to put a human colony on Mars. More importantly, it means we don’t yet understand how to live sustainably on our own planet. Earth, like Biosphere II, is a materially closed ecosystem. Nothing is lost, and nothing is gained. And nearly everything that is required to sustain human life is made available by other living organisms. Without photosynthetic bacteria and plants, there would be no breathable atmosphere. Without microbes, fungi, and animals, there would be no soil ...
