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[dramatic percussion music]

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- HEY, WELCOME
TO "NASA LAUNCHPAD."

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I'M YOUR HOST,
AUDREY STAPLES.

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AS WE'VE MENTIONED BEFORE
ON "LAUNCHPAD,"

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NASA DOESN'T JUST DO WORK
IN SPACE.

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THE VAST MAJORITY
OF NASA'S WORKFORCE

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IS RIGHT HERE ON EARTH,

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AND THERE'S A LOT OF WORK
GOING ON

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TO UNDERSTAND OUR OWN PLANET.

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OUR PLANET IS MADE UP OF UNIQUE
COMMUNITIES KNOWN AS BIOMES.

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HOW DO YOU DETERMINE
WHAT MAKES UP A BIOME?

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WELL, FOR THE ANSWER,
LET'S HEAD OUT TO ARIZONA

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AND CHECK OUT THE AMAZING
STRUCTURE THAT IS BIOSPHERE 2.

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B2, AS IT'S KNOWN,
IS CURRENTLY OPERATED

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FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA.

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SO LET'S HEAR ABOUT BIOMES
FROM MATT ADAMSON,

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BIOSPHERE 2'S
PROGRAM COORDINATOR

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FOR EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

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- SO A BIOME IS A MAJOR
GEOGRAPHICAL REGION ON EARTH

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THAT CONTAINS ITS OWN UNIQUE
OR DISTINCTIVE SETS

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OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE.

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SO YOU HAVE THINGS LIKE
SAVANNAS, OCEANS, DESERTS,

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TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS.

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ALL OF THESE WOULD BE CONSIDERED
MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS

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WITH THEIR OWN UNIQUE
PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE.

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INSIDE BIOSPHERE 2,
THE BIOMES WE HAVE

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ARE ALL EITHER TROPICAL
OR SUBTROPICAL IN NATURE,

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AND SO WE HAVE THINGS LIKE
A TROPICAL RAIN FOREST,

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A SAVANNA,
WHICH IS A GRASSLAND,

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A COASTAL FOG DESERT,

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AND WE DO HAVE OUR OWN
SALTWATER OCEAN.

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- ECOLOGISTS
USE PATTERNS OF CLIMATE,

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LOOKING AT FACTORS LIKE
TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION

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AS WELL AS THE KINDS
OF PLANTS OR ANIMALS

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THAT LIVE IN AN AREA

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TO DIVIDE THE WORLD
INTO DIFFERENT BIOMES.

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AND ALTHOUGH
EVERY KIND OF BIOME ON EARTH

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IS NOT REPRESENTED
IN THIS AMAZING STRUCTURE,

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EACH BIOME IN BIOSPHERE 2

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IS BASED ON AN ACTUAL BIOME
HERE ON EARTH,

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COMPLETE
WITH SMALLER ECOSYSTEMS.

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AND THE BIOMES
INSIDE BIOSPHERE 2

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MAKE IT AN IDEAL PLACE
FOR RESEARCH.

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BUT WHAT EXACTLY
IS BEING STUDIED?

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I'LL LET MATT EXPLAIN.

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- THERE IS A FUNDAMENTAL
QUESTION ABOUT--

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THAT CONNECTS
TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY

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TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE,

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AND WE WANT TO STUDY
THE SENSITIVITY

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OF KEY TERRESTRIAL BIOMES

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AS THEY RELATE TO VARIABILITY
IN GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.

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BY RUNNING BOTH DROUGHT
AND WARMING EXPERIMENTS

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IN THIS CONTROLLED ECOSYSTEM,

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WE EXPECT TO GAIN
A MORE MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING

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OF THE FUTURE RESPONSE
OF TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS

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TO CLIMATE CHANGE

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FROM THE INDIVIDUAL
PLANT LEVEL

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ALL THE WAY UP TO THE LEVEL
OF AN ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM.

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- OKAY, WE KNOW
THAT ALL LIVING THINGS

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ARE CLOSELY RELATED
TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT.

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ANY CHANGE IN ONE PART
OF THAT ENVIRONMENT

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CAN CAUSE A RIPPLE EFFECT
THROUGHOUT THE OTHER PARTS.

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AND B2 USES BIOMES IN THE WORLD
TO LEARN ABOUT THOSE RIPPLES.

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BUT WHY RAIN FORESTS, ESPECIALLY
THE LARGEST ONE IN THE WORLD,

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THE AMAZON RAIN FOREST
IN SOUTH AMERICA?

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- SO THE AMAZON IS OF INTEREST

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BECAUSE IT'S ONE OF THESE KEY

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SENSITIVE TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
I MENTIONED

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IN THAT IT CONTAINS UNPARALLELED
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY,

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IT CONTAINS
A GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT STORE

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OF ORGANIC CARBON,

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AND IT IS A POTENT ENGINE
THAT DRIVES THE WATER

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AND CLIMATE CYCLE ON EARTH.

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- I UNDERSTAND
WHY THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

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WANTS TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY,

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OR THE VARIETY OF LIFE
FOUND HERE ON EARTH,

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BUT HOW DOES NASA
FIT INTO ALL THIS?

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- SO OUR SIGNIFICANT
RAIN FOREST RESEARCH

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REALLY IS CONNECTED
TO TWO KEY LEGACIES

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OF THE LARGE-SCALE
BIOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE EXPERIMENT

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IN AMAZONIA THAT WAS FUNDED
IN LARGE PART BY NASA.

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SO ESSENTIALLY,
WHAT THAT MEANS IS,

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WE'RE TAKING DATA THAT NASA
HAS ALREADY PAID FOR

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THROUGH OTHER PROJECTS

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AND USING IT TO COMPARE
TO RESPONSES

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IN OUR RAIN FOREST HERE,

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WHICH IS IN
A CONTROLLED SETTING,

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SO THAT WHEN WE'RE
CHANGING THINGS

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LIKE GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE,
TEMPERATURE,

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REDUCING PRECIPITATION WHEN
WE PUT THEM THROUGH DROUGHTS,

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WE THEN CAN COMPARE
THIS SORT OF CONTROL DATA

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TO REAL-WORLD DATA THAT NASA'S
COLLECTED THROUGH THESE--

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FOR EXAMPLE, THESE FLUX TOWERS
THAT ARE COLLECTING DATA

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THROUGHOUT THE AMAZON.

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SO SORT OF A SYNTHESIS
OF REAL-WORLD DATA COLLECTION

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AND CONTROLLED-WORLD
DATA COLLECTION.

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- TALK ABOUT HAVING
A GREAT SETUP

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TO CHANGE
AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE;

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OBSERVE THE RESULTS,
OR DEPENDENT VARIABLE;

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AND COMPARE THOSE RESULTS
TO REAL-WORLD DATA.

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I GUESS THOSE AREN'T JUST WORDS
IN YOUR TEXTBOOK.

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NOW, WHAT ABOUT A SPECIFIC
EXAMPLE OF THIS RESEARCH?

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- ONE THAT IS UNDER WAY
AND HAS BEEN FOR SOME TIME

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IS A STUDY OF VOLATILE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

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IN THE ATMOSPHERE
OF THE RAIN FOREST BIOME.

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AND VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

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ESSENTIALLY ARE THE 1%
OF OUR ATMOSPHERE--

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IF YOU CONSIDER THAT 78%
OF OUR ATMOSPHERE IS NITROGEN,

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21% IS OXYGEN,

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THE REMAINING 1% OR LESS

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ARE THINGS THAT WE WOULD
THINK OF AS GREENHOUSE GASES:

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CARBON DIOXIDE, ETHANOL,
THINGS LIKE THAT.

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AND THE PERSON WHO'S STUDYING
VOCs IN OUR RAIN FOREST

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IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED
IN THE NATURAL PRODUCTION

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OF ETHANOL
IN RAIN FOREST SYSTEMS.

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SO WE'RE ACTUALLY COLLECTING
GAS SAMPLES FROM THE RAIN FOREST

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AND THEN ANALYZING THEM
IN HIS LAB.

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HE HOPES TO GET
A BASELINE UNDERSTANDING

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OF NATURAL PRODUCTION
OF ETHANOL,

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BECAUSE IF WE THINK
ABOUT MOVING TO ETHANOL

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AS AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE,

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SO AS WE POWER AUTOMOBILES,
FOR EXAMPLE, WITH ETHANOL

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INSTEAD OF GASOLINE,

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WELL, IT COULD BE THAT WE'RE
SUBSTITUTING ONE GREENHOUSE GAS,

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CO2, FOR ANOTHER,
IN ETHANOL.

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AND SO HE WANTS TO UNDERSTAND

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SOME OF THE NATURAL-OCCURRING
ETHANOL

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BEFORE WE AS HUMAN BEINGS
PERHAPS START PUTTING

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A LOT OF INDUSTRIAL-PRODUCED
ETHANOL INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.

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SO THAT'S ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW
WE'RE USING OUR RAIN FOREST

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TO STUDY NATURAL PROCESSES

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AND, IN THIS CASE,
AN ANALOG TO THE AMAZON.

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- IT JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU,

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THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
IS NEVER COMPLETE.

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SCIENTISTS ARE CONTINUALLY
MAKING OBSERVATIONS,

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COLLECTING DATA,
PREDICTING RESULTS,

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AND ANALYZING THEIR FINDINGS.

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THAT'S IT FOR NOW.
I'M AUDREY STAPLES.

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THANKS FOR WATCHING,

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AND WE'LL CATCH YOU NEXT TIME
ON "NASA LAUNCHPAD."