'Doomsday' vault design unveiled

[Shithappens]

news.bbc.co.uk

 

The final design for a "doomsday" vault that will house seeds from all known varieties of food crops has been unveiled by the Norwegian government.

 

The Svalbard International Seed Vault will be built into a mountainside on a remote island near the North Pole.

 

The vault aims to safeguard the world's agriculture from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid strikes and climate change.

 

Construction begins in March, and the seed bank is scheduled to open in 2008.

 

The Norwegian government is paying the $5m (£2.5m) construction costs of the vault, which will have enough space to house three million seed samples.

 

The collection and maintenance of the collection is being organised by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which has responsibility of ensuring the "conservation of crop diversity in perpetuity".

 

"We want a safety net because we do not want to take too many chances with crop biodiversity," said Cary Fowler, the Trust's executive director.

 

"Can you imagine an effective, efficient, sustainable response to climate change, water shortages, food security issues without what is going to go in the vault - it is the raw material of agriculture."

 

Future proof

 

The seed vault will be built 120m (364ft) inside a mountain on Spitsbergen, one of four islands that make up Svalbard.

 

Map showing location of Svalbard (Image: BBC)

 

Dr Fowler said Svalbard, 1,000km (621 miles) north of mainland Norway, was chosen as the location for the vault because it was very remote and it also offered the level of stability required for the long-term project.

 

"We looked very far into the future. We looked at radiation levels inside the mountain, and we looked at the area's geological structure," he told BBC News.

 

"We also modelled climate change in a drastic form 200 years into future, which included the melting of ice sheets at the North and South Poles, and Greenland, to make sure that this site was above the resulting water level."

 

By building the vault deep inside the mountain, the surrounding permafrost would continue to provide natural refrigeration if the mechanical system failed, explained Dr Fowler.

 

'Living Fort Knox'

 

The Arctic vault will act as a back-up store for a global network of seed banks financially supported by the trust.

 

Dr Fowler said that a proportion of the seeds housed at these banks would be deposited at Svalbard, which will act as a "living Fort Knox".

 

Although the vault was designed to protect the specimens from catastrophic events, he added that it could also be used to replenish national seed banks.

 

"One example happened in September when a typhoon ripped through the Philippines and destroyed its seed bank," Dr Fowler recalled.

 

"The storm brought two feet of water and mud into the bank, and that is the last thing you want in a seed bank."

 

Low maintenance

 

Once inside the vault, the samples will be stored at -18C (0F). The length of time that seeds kept in a frozen state maintain their ability to germinate depends on the species.

 

Freshwater ice (Image: P.Vermeij/Crop Diversity Trust)

The Arctic conditions will help keep the seeds in a frozen state

Some crops, such as peas, may only survive for 20-30 years. Others, such as sunflowers and grain crops, are understood to last for many decades or even hundreds of years.

 

Once the collection has been established at Svalbard, Dr Fowler said the facility would operate with very little human intervention.

 

"Somebody will go up there once every year to physically check inside to see that everything is OK, but there will be no full-time staff," he explained.

 

"If you design a facility to be used in worst-case scenarios, then you cannot actually have too much dependency on human beings."

 

Are they gunna save our strains or what?

[stonedstump]

Hmm makes you wonder.

 

They would be stupid not to. But I doubt anything will wipe out the worlds marijuana population and all seeds.

 

(IMAGINE IF THAT HAPPENED THOUGH JUST THINK ABOUT IT!!) HOLY SHIT.

 

Seriously imagine that if in the whole world there was nothing. Although, I suppose they can make synthetic THC nowadays.

[WantDaChronic]

ofcourse they'll have cannabis in there, but i highly doubt they'll have anything other than hemp strains

[Infinitee]

I may be a tad too optimistic, but i think that if a government is 'forward-thinking' enough build a safety vault for seeds that they would have the brains to add one of the best and most anciently used medicinal plants in the world.

 

I mean, as if every govt doesn't know how great mj can be. Half of american states legalised it themselves and there is always things in politics about medical mj and the controversy surrounding it.

 

If not one person associated with this project tries to sneak a few mj seeds in, then the Norwegian (and human) spirit i can remember is dead and gone and to hell with them and their little nuclear safety submarine!

 

(and yes i know its not a submarine).

[bmwdude]

Scary thing is that a government is willing to fork out some serious cash because it has reason to believe we may need it!!! What would make it think that:

1.Genetic engineered seeds!!!

2.America

3.Israel

4.UK

5.Australia

Notice how i dont blame bush and blair in entirety? Thats because these morons are puppets for something we have yet to understand...........otherwise why would they all kiss israels ass at any opportunity???

Cheers

Chris

[Pickle]

If it is a vault for protection against an extiction level event, then oil and drug producing plants would be in there for sure.

[Major Overgrow]

After being told how bad things got during the last big depression & seeing some ration stamps kept by my grandparents, I've started my own doomsday vault(s) and survival gardens in remote-ish locations. Veggies, Herbs, Fruit Trees, Cannabis, even some Flowers.

*Better Safe Than Rations, if u can even get em....

(not getting paranoid, but considering the idea)

[Kali Mist]

Good Idea.

I know plenty who do the same.

[Teucer]

Notice how i dont blame bush and blair in entirety? Thats because these morons are puppets for something we have yet to understand...........otherwise why would they all kiss israels ass at any opportunity???

 

Of all places to find anti-semitism, a bloody pot forum!?

 

Our herb is supposed to get you past all that rubbish!

 

I'm sick and tired of people blaming friggin Israel for everything...

 

Why is it overcast? Israel

Why was Bush elected? Israel

Why is pot illegal? Israel

Who caused WWII? Israel

Who won WWII? Israel

Why was Howard elected? Israel

Why was Rudd elected? Israel

 

It's seriously friggin' ridiculous. Get over your f'd up racism and grow up.

[Stokes]

Firstly i cant believe i'm even going to type this....so sorry.

 

I got a mate who believe's most governments have these vaults but not just for seeds for humans, lotsa humans, of course only the smartest and soforth. This mate of mine is actually making his own "vault" out of shipping containers for him and his family, he believe's that in 2012 a brown dwarf called nibiru is going to come past good ol' planet earth and kill us all.

I did a quick look into brown dwarfs and found out their gravity is seriously crazy, so i told him that the last place he should be is in a shipping container buried underground "if" this thing comes.Poor bastard almost shit himself. But this is a guy who watches ufo and alien videos on youtube and believes them.