Future Proofing in the Arctic.

Hidden away on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean is the “Doomsday” Vault.  It has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples from all regions of the planet.  Its purpose is to safeguard the world’s agriculture from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid impact, climate change, natural disasters, poor agricultural management and disease etc.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located on the Norwegian Island of Spitsbergen which forms part of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.  It is approximately 1120km (700 miles) from the North Pole.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault acts as a backup to the worlds seed banks should seed reserves in these locations be lost.

There are five reason why this location was chosen:

1. Built within a region that has relative security, political and social stability.
2. Isolated from the rest of the world in a region where Permafrost will provide stable storage conditions for seeds.  With also little risk of local seed dispersion.
3. The Vault is about built 130 metres above sea level and is high enough to secure the facility against any rise in sea level as a result of global warming.  It has been built 120 metres into the side of a mountain, in a stable sandstone situation.
4. There is very little tectonic activity on the island which ensures long term structural stability of the vault itself and also the mountain in which it is built.
5. Access to the island is fairly easy considering its remoteness as it is built near the town of Longyearbyen and directly opposite Longyear Airport.  The vault can be quickly accessed from the town and ensures security can be maintained.

The seeds are stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius and placed in sealed packages that again will be placed in sealed boxes that will be stored on high shelves inside the vault. The low temperature and the limited access to oxygen will ensure low metabolic activity and cause a delay in the aging of the seeds. The permafrost will still ensure the continued viability of the seeds if the electricity supply should fail.

The facility consists of three separate underground chambers. Each chamber has the capacity to store 1,5 million different seed samples. With the aid of its own electric machinery, powered by electricity from the local power station, it will maintain a constant interior temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius. The chambers will have storage shelving for prepacked examples of food seeds from the depositors (donor countries).

The storage chambers themselves are reached via an access tunnel about 100 metres long, with an entrance portal on its outside. The entrance portal will be the only visible part of the facility. It is in the form of a long, narrow concrete “fin”, with an entrance of brushed steel. An artistic decoration on the outer roof surface and on the upper part of the front will partly reflect the polar light and partly give off a muted, glowing light. (Source: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220)

I think this project is fantastic and is truly worth while.  If we want to safe guard our existence on this planet and combat poverty in developing nations then continued access to seeds is essential.  There is far too much emphasis placed on access to energy resources such as oil and coal, in my opinion maintaining our ability to access food is far more important.  And the fact that the Vault looks like the Rebel base in Empire Strikes Back makes it all the more worth while.  If your going to build a Seed Vault in the Arctic why not make is look cool as well.

Definition of a Tourist

Tourist:( Pronounciation: Too r-ist)

-noun

1. A person who endeavors with an activity which they have little knowledge of or experience in.

Example: Someone would be considered a “Tourist” if they tried something new and ignorantly made a decision which someone with experience or knowledge wouldn’t dream of making.