Biosphere II
Carolyn N. Kinder
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Give FeedbackTHE QUALITY OF BIOSPHERE 2 ATMOSPHERE
There were two scenarios posed about the quality of Biosphere 2 atmosphere. The first scenario hypothesized that if there were too many plants in relation to animals, the vegetation might drastically reduce all the carbon dioxide. Then, when the concentration of carbon dioxide had dropped to fifty to one hundred parts per million, many plants except for some survivalist species that evolved genetic capacities to process lower levels would stop growing. So comparatively few animals could live there.
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The other scenario would happen if there were too many animals. When carbon dioxide levels increase, plants respond to that richer diet by photosynthesizing at an increased rate. But the response is slow. In small closed areas animals could deplete all of the oxygen and die before plants had a chance to replenish the supply. Long before this could occur humans might start suffering the effects of too much carbon dioxide in the air, which may become unhealthy for humans at levels of ten to twenty thousand parts per million.
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