Science question about underground survival.

[potioncat]

 "Tonks" <tonks_op at ...> wrote:

> On an smaller scale than the government has, how would a person 
live 
> underground as far as oxygen is concerned if you had to concerned 
about 
> poison in the air. And other than food and water, is that all they 
> would need if they had to stay there for 6 months? 
> 
> Maybe I should ask the Slytherins since they spend a lot of time in 
the 
> dungeons.


Tonks:
Don't ask Slytherins, they wouldn't tell you. And even if they did, 
you don't have a wand.


You don't, do you?


On a smaller scale than the government, or big business, or a very 
rich person I don't think you could live under ground for very long. 
I googled bomb shelters and looked at two sites. One addressed how 
spacious and pleasant the shelter was, while the photo gave me the 
creeps. Did not look spacious or pleasant to me. I didn't get so far 
as to how long a person could stay inside. It also mentioned an 
underground power source, but it didn't say what the power source 
used for power.

I don't know what the space station does for water and air. I'm sure 
a portion of the water is recycled, but they  have to bring up and 
replace the water supply. They must have brought up oxygen or air and 
that must be filtered to remove carbon dioxide. My resident expert 
tells me that ships at sea and submarines make their own water from 
sea water.

Ships at sea, subs and the space station are manned with engineers 
and technicians. They have access to experts on earth. A family 
wouldn't have that. So once a generator broke, or the air went bad, 
that would be it.

But, what would you need? Food and water per day per person for how 
many days(and a place to store it). An air purifying system. A sewage 
system. A garbage/trash storage system. Medical supplies. Radio. 
Batteries. A power source. A deck of cards. A really good sense of 
humor. It wouldn't hurt to invite an engineer to join you.

Neither have anything to do with underground shelters, but you could 
read, "Alas, Babylon" or watch. "On the Beach." My high schooler had 
to read the book. It's ok, but it aint literature. It's about a small 
group of people who manage to survive after nuclear war. Lucky for 
them they were in Florida. Year round food supply. The movie is about 
a similar theme, and is amazing only because Anthony Perkins plays a 
nice young man. The movie is very depressing.