Earth's Black Box

By establishing a black box of the globe, Australian scientists as well as artists hope to hold the rest of the world answerable for their activities. The solar-powered vault will measure around the length of a public bus and the design of an upside-down curb stop, with a 3 inch thick (7.5 centimeter) steel shell engineered to survive disaster, similar to how an aircraft’s black box is created to withstand an accident. And, much as a black box is stowed away in the safest place of an aircraft, Earth’s Black Box would be stored in the safest portion of the planet, which is reportedly Tasmania. Earth’s Black Box will be loaded with hard drives capturing and saving climate-related data once it goes online.

The topic has a very high chance of being asked in IAS Prelims as an Environment Question or Current Affairs Question, as it has been in the news recently.

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Key Facts About Earth’s Black Box

• Earth’s Black Box’s storage drives are expected to last between 30 and 50 years.
• It will be formed of 3 inch thick steel and PV solar panels will cover it.
• The black box will be built in Tasmania, an island state off Australia’s south coast.
• It will gather data on climate change such as land and sea temperature readings, species extinction, resource use, human population, acidification of the oceans, and CO₂ levels in the atmosphere.
• It will also gather contextual data such as media headlines and trending topics, as well as important news stories as well as social media posts.
• The island of Tasmania was selected for its comparative geopolitical and environmental safety, as well as the monolith will be built to withstand dangers such as cyclones, earthquakes, and vandalism thanks to its sloped sides.

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Significance

The black box will actually aid in the prevention of a major climate change catastrophe, which is one of the most serious threats humanity faces, aggravating economic and health disparities, raising the frequency as well as severity of natural disasters, and posing a threat to the world’s food supply.

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