Ruby Whispers

Written by Max Pedroza

Humid.
Generally 26-32 degrees C (feels hotter due to humidity – sweat doesn’t evaporate easily)

Rains constantly (at least once a day)
- In dense forests, rain filters down as the leaves get in the way – not exposed to rain directly.
Thick pungent smell is fue to flowers and decaying biomatter.
Lots of insects and animals means constant buzzing chirping etc.
It is difficult to move around fallen trees, rocks, and other obstables.

Humidity is 77-88%

Ruby Whispers

“BRACE” blares Alejandro! The boat jolts to a stop as he gently steers us to scrape

against the rocky shore below.

Carlos tumbles my gear towards me as he goes prepares himself to disembark. Maria

walks out onto the deck already in her nicely fitted trousers, scratched up boots, and

loaded backpack. This isn’t her first rodeo. Her dedicated and committed personality

has given her huge success as a tropical biologist. I hope to one day continue paving a

path she has graciously opened for us to explore.

As I am finishing the final adjustments to my shirt, Carlos is the first to step foot on this

unexplored island. Familiar with similar vegetation in Brazil, he looks around to identify

an interesting direction we should wander into first. Satellite spectroscopy data of this

area shows abnormally high levels of oxygen, as well as methane, but lower than

expected carbon dioxide concentrations. So far, the island looks like any other. Without

any particular direction piquing our interest, Maria leads us toward the treeline on the

shortest path.

“How’s the air?” asked Maria.

“The usual,” I replied.

Devoted to find the cause for the atmospheric anomaly, she sharply turns her head

toward the dense vegetation, and stomps her way in. The branches drastically slow us

down and scrape us as we slap them out of our way. A few steps in and my sweat

becomes counterproductive. Humidity is quickly surpassing 80% at 32 degrees Celsius.

I hear Carlos softly whisper “Porra” as we both figure this is going to be a long

expedition.

We’ve been plodding through the forest for what feels like an eternity now. The soft

ground, fallen trees, overgrown branches, buzzing insects and exhausting temperatures

are not helping our cause. Our walk is slower than a crawl. Every step is accompanied

by the falling of drops of sweat from my back and head. The putrid smell from old

decaying matter further weakened our motivation. But we haven’t found any explanation

for the anomalies seen from the satellites.

We wave branches out of our path. Suddenly, after squeezing through some bushes, we

found ourselves in an empty open area. The air feels cooler and our energy doubles as

if we had been awakened from a slumber. The ground becomes squishy and muddy,

sucking our boots into the ground.

Beep beep beep beep. My monitor goes off like crazy. I swipe it from my holder and

start flipping though the various concentrations.

“WE’RE GONNA DIE” exclaimed Carlos as he slapped my arm and laughed.

“H2S, clear; CO2, clear; Methane, Clear; Carbon Monoxide, clear; Oxygen... high at

24%?” I wondered how that could be.

“We must be close!” Maria chirped.

“Keep an eye on the air composition!” Carlos reiterated.

As we continue our way into the empty void of the forest, our steps become heavier and

harder to take. The mud is getting wetter, further suctioning our feet to the ground. But

we cannot stop, for we have made it this far.

“We are at 25% O2 now!” I notify the team

We continue taking laboured steps. A layer of ruby water begins to form on top of the

mud.

“26%!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see some critters moving out of the water and onto my

boots. I shake my feet outside the water to get the damned things off. I skim the water

with my boots, stomp and kick the ground to get them off. But ... there are no critters:

it’s a stream of bubbles coming out of the water. And indeed, I look closer, and the lake

has tiny streams of bubbles scattered throughout the entire surface. Anywhere I look

has tiny little bubbles erupting. I whip out the probe again and place it just above one of

the streams.

“I think these bubbles are tiny rivers of oxygen! I’m reading 52% oxygen when I put the

sensor near the output of this stream!” I sputtered.

Could this be a new species of algae? One that was only discovered through satellite

spectroscopy due to its extreme ability to produce oxygen? This is amazing! Perhaps

this can revolutionize how oxygen is produced and transported. Or perhaps it could be

used to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – biological carbon capture! We

need to collect a sample of the new algae to study at the lab.

“Maria, I think we found what we came for! There’s a super alga in this water!”

Ruby Whispers - Story Research

Topic chosen: Algae O2 generation from CO2

(carbon dioxide sink or biological carbon capture)

Carbon dioxide levels have been increasing in the atmosphere for a long time – since

the beginning of the industrialization. These changes is atmospheric content help trap

heat in the atmosphere, raising global temperatures and leading to more extreme

climatic conditions and weather events.

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-

atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

To combat this, several Oil and Gas companies have announced intention to lower their

greenhouse gas emissions. I focus on these actors as they are considered to be at the

source of production of the very substance causing the climate crisis – petroleum.

https://news.imperialoil.ca/news-releases/news-releases/2021/Canadas-largest-oil-

sands-producers-announce-unprecedented-alliance-to-achieve-net-zero-greenhouse-

gas-emissions/default.aspx

The main ways these Oil and Gas companies are looking at lowering GHG output

involves increasing process efficiency and implementing carbon capture technology.

While these probably will work, they most likely won’t be significant enough to alter the