Earth’s Black Box

• 11 Dec 2021

Why in News

Australian scientists and artists are going to make black box of the planet to hold the world accountable for their actions by creating a black box of the planet. 

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The box will be constructed in Tasmania, an Australian island state off the south coast.
  • It will be made with 3-inch thick steel and covered with solar panels.
  • It will operate much like a plane’s flight recorder, which records an aircraft’s final moments before crashing.
  • The storage drives inside Earth’s Black Box are designed to last for around 30 to 50 years.
  • The black box will be around the size of a city-bus, and inside there will be storage drives that record climate change conversations and also atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and average temperatures.
• Types of Data Collection by the Box:
  
  • Two different types of data will be collected and stored inside the monolith.
    
    • It will collect climate-change-related data like land and sea temperature measurements, species extinction, energy consumption, human population, ocean acidification, and atmospheric CO₂ levels.
    • It will collect contextual data, like newspaper headlines and trending stories, key news stories and social media posts.
• Reason for choosing the Tasmania:
  
  • Tasmania was chosen for its relative geopolitical and environmental safety, and the monolith will be designed to be resilient against threats including cyclones, earthquakes and, with its sloped walls, attacks by vandals.
• Significance:
  
  • Black box will actually help in preventing a major climate change catastrophe.
    
    • Climate change is one of the gravest threats humanity faces and is exacerbating economic and health inequalities, increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters and threatening the world’s food supply.

Source: IE