Arctic Doomsday Vault
Deep in the Arctic lies a large heavily guarded door which leads down into a deep underground vault...
The Norwegian island of Spitsbergen is about 810 miles (1,300 km) from the North Pole.
It's cold up there, temperatures during summer ranging from 4 °C (39 °F) to 6 °C (43 °F).
An interesting structure sticking out of the frozen tundra may catch your eye...
An interesting structure sticking out of the frozen tundra may catch your eye...
This is the Svalbard Global seed vault. It's a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago.
But it's also known by another name, the Doomsday Vault.
The idea of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is to provide a safety net against the accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks. Basically in the event of a global catastrophe or war, the vault will secure the preservation of various seeds from our own self-destructive tendencies.
The seedbank is constructed 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island. The bank employs a number of robust security systems. Seeds are packaged in special four-ply packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture. The facility is managed by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, though there are no permanent staff on-site.
But it's also known by another name, the Doomsday Vault.
...and well as the name implies it's a large heavily guarded underground vault...containing seeds.
Spitsbergen was considered ideal due to its lack of tectonic activity and its permafrost, which will aid preservation. The location 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will ensure that the site remains dry even if the icecaps melt. Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally recommended standard −18 °C (0 °F). Even if the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the temperature rises to the −3 °C (27 °F) of the surrounding sandstone bedrock.
Prior to construction, a feasibility study determined that the vault could preserve seeds from most major food crops for hundreds and hundreds of years. Some seeds, including those of important grains, could survive longer, possibly thousands of years.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on 26 February 2008. Approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating - the facility has a capacity to conserve 4.5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008. Five percent of the seeds in the vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands (CGN), part of Wageningen University, Netherlands.
As of March 2013, the number of distinct samples has increased to 770,000.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on 26 February 2008. Approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating - the facility has a capacity to conserve 4.5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008. Five percent of the seeds in the vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands (CGN), part of Wageningen University, Netherlands.
As of March 2013, the number of distinct samples has increased to 770,000.
