Biosphere...

I live but a few miles away from Biosphere II, which appears as a giant white jungle gym nestled in the blue shadows of the Catalina Mountains. Many ask if Biosphere I refers to the experiment in which several members of a quasi-scientific incipient religion failed to sustain themselves inside a hermetically sealed replica of earth's many habitats. It does not but rather refers to the planet Earth itself. Biosphere II was the offspring, which would have allowed us to develop human colonies in uninhabitable terrains .. such as one finds on Mars.

The experiment failed because no one predicted the extraordinary output of carbon dioxide produced by all the human and plant life inside the giant glass shell. It also failed because the Village Voice, having gotten wind of the fact that it was the brainchild of a cult funded by a family of Texas billionaires, launched a campaign to destroy its credibility in the public eye. After the experiment's demise, Biosphere was taken over for a time by Columbia University, which developed it as a research and educational facility focused on studying the impact of global warming .. abetted by the original carbon dioxide problem.

In spite of its various failings (including political), the structure that was built to contain Biosphere II was a monumental feat of engineering relying on a high degree of scientific ingenuity .. perhaps parallelling that of the Egyptian pyramids. Its aim too was not implausible — namely the recreation of self-sustaining habitats independent of external geologic or climactic forces (sunshine being the one sine qua non).

Biosphere and the Grand Canyon are perhaps the two Arizona locations with the greatest name recognition world wide. Nevertheless, there is a strong likelihood that the Biosphere campus will be razed. It should be pointed out that the Fairfield Development Corporation has already been granted rights to develop a contiguous 1,200 acres of pristine desert foothills with heart-rending views and so wonders at the necessity of levelling Biosphere's mere 3 acres.

If and when the Biosphere is torn down, it will be done so in order to make room for that other extraordinary (and parallel) Arizona experiment in superimposing artificial inhabitable environments on a disinterested terrain, namely, the planned community.