Global Seed Vault — Oh, just in case doomsday occurs in 2012
So, after watching the History Channel at the hotel on Friday night in San Diego after a long day of work, my coworkers and I learned about December 21, 2012, which is sometimes referred to as Doomsday, and is the day that the “Long Count” Mayan calendar ends. Some believe that on this day, there will be a large catastrophic event that will leave our planet earth barren.
To protect our plant species in the event of a catastrophic event, the Norwegian Government and the Global Crop Diversity Fund and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, along with other donors, have put their forces together to build the Svalbard Seed Vault.
The seed vault, located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is an underground cavern dug into the side of a mountain which will hold/holds genetic copies of seeds from around the world.
Taken from their Wikipedia entry:
The seedbank is constructed 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island.[4] 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.
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.[4] Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally-recommended standard −18 °C (0 °F). [5] Even if the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the temperature rises to the −3 °C (30 °F) of the surrounding sandstone bedrock.[1]
Prior to construction, a feasibility study determined that the vault could preserve seeds from most major food crops for hundreds of years. Some seeds, including those of important grains, could survive far longer, possibly thousands of years.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on February 26, 2008.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]
At first listen, it sounds a little looney, but I’m sure we’ll all be grateful and estatic (those of us that are still alive that is…) when something tragic happens and we are able to bring to plants to life that were deemed extinct due to the catastrophe.
Now all we need is a way to get to that damn vault from the United States.
Oh, and seed storage in the vault is free. In the event that you’ve created some bomb-diggity hybrid seeds, you should save them!
The Seed Vault has a capacity of 4.5 million seed samples, equivalent to about 2 billion seeds. Samples eligible for conservation at Svalbard must already be housed in two conventional long-term genebanks elsewhere, in keeping with current international standards.
Oops, never mind.
Check out this video by CBS, taking you through the vault.
Recent Comments