PHOTOS: Tennessee Time Machine
Welcome to the world of tomorrow. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee have surrounded a section of the forest floor with instruments designed to simulate future climate conditions. They're using the experiment to learn how increased CO2 and higher temperatures will affect soil and plants in ways that computer modeling can only guess at (see "Step Into My Time Machine," Spring 2011). Photographer Chad Greene joined the researchers on a trip to 2111 -- no DeLorean required.
The SPRUCE project (short for Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change) lives inside a chamber about 40 feet across and 26 feet high. Inside, researchers can simulate climate conditions that might exist 100 years from now.








