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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGlobal seed vault flooded as Arctic permafrost melts
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/19/arctic-stronghold-of-worlds-seeds-flooded-after-permafrost-melts"It was designed as an impregnable deep-freeze to protect the worlds most precious seeds from any global disaster and ensure humanitys food supply forever. But the Global Seed Vault, buried in a mountain deep inside the Arctic circle, has been breached after global warming produced extraordinary temperatures over the winter, sending meltwater gushing into the entrance tunnel.
The vault is on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen and contains almost a million packets of seeds, each a variety of an important food crop. When it was opened in 2008, the deep permafrost through which the vault was sunk was expected to provide failsafe protection against the challenge of natural or man-made disasters.
But soaring temperatures in the Arctic at the end of the worlds hottest ever recorded year led to melting and heavy rain, when light snow should have been falling. It was not in our plans to think that the permafrost would not be there and that it would experience extreme weather like that, said Hege Njaa Aschim, from the Norwegian government, which owns the vault.
A lot of water went into the start of the tunnel and then it froze to ice, so it was like a glacier when you went in, she told the Guardian. Fortunately, the meltwater did not reach the vault itself, the ice has been hacked out, and the precious seeds remain safe for now at the required storage temperature of -18C.
But the breach has questioned the ability of the vault to survive as a lifeline for humanity if catastrophe strikes. It was supposed to [operate] without the help of humans, but now we are watching the seed vault 24 hours a day, Aschim said. We must see what we can do to minimise all the risks and make sure the seed bank can take care of itself. .......(more)
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Global seed vault flooded as Arctic permafrost melts (Original Post)
Tanuki
May 2017
OP
Seriously, do you mean to tell me that if nuclear weapons had been dropped into the area
smirkymonkey
May 2017
#7
It's almost as if someone were sending a message - a message regarding inability to effectively pla
hatrack
May 2017
#2
One speculates idly about the carbon footprint of constructing such a structure in that
AtheistCrusader
May 2017
#17
eShirl
(18,509 posts)1. I can't help but think that problem should have been forseen. n/t
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)7. Seriously, do you mean to tell me that if nuclear weapons had been dropped into the area
they would have not melted the permafrost either? I'm not a scientist, but I would think they could generate enough heat to make that a possibility.
paleotn
(18,015 posts)14. Sure, but
why would anyone want to? There's nothing there but some small villages, a little high end tourist crap, the seed vault and the rest is ice, rock and polar bears.
hatrack
(59,606 posts)2. It's almost as if someone were sending a message - a message regarding inability to effectively pla
mountain grammy
(26,676 posts)12. That picture! Hysterical
hatrack
(59,606 posts)16. Idiocracy - more than 10 years old, and more timely than ever . .
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)3. Superman's Fortress of Solitude is next nt
hunter
(38,353 posts)20. Santa Claus has been there, done that, and relocated to a factory in China.
Unfortunately rising seas are threatening that too.
Doodley
(9,176 posts)4. I hope they used Tupperware
That was funny.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)6. Thank goodness it didn't reach the seed.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)8. OMG, the title scared me...I thought the seeds had been lost!
Oh I'm relieved, but concerned about how they'll be able to keep them safe.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,919 posts)9. Now this is the ultimate metaphor, isn't it?
Very scary. It wasn't even safe for a decade let alone a century or more.
Shandris
(3,447 posts)10. YOU HAD ONE JOB... n/t
keithbvadu2
(37,050 posts)11. And the Titanic would not sink.
Mother nature plays rough and dirty.
LittleGirl
(8,292 posts)13. That title is misleading
Seeds unharmed. ugh. Thankfully.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)18. That's what headlines are for.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)17. One speculates idly about the carbon footprint of constructing such a structure in that
remote of a location...
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)22. You mean they didn't plan for that?
What the fuck kind of global seed vault are you?