Svalbard Might Be Evacuated

Originally posted by rickymouse
You gotta ask yourself, why are they creating this seed storage facility. They are not including any genetically modified food in this storage either as far as I know. It must be to start the world over after we destroy ourselves. A new world full of organic foods.

Good place to go visit, I'm a mouse you know and mice like seeds.

edit on 7-12-2012 by rickymouse because: (no reason given)

Originally posted by smugmushroom
I fail to fathom how TPTB that orchestrated the Seed Vault, did not take into account the possibility of a sustained coal seam fire when it has already been evidenced in the States. Granted it's on an isolated island, but if the power plant is fueled from local (how local?) seams then there is a real and very great threat to the Seed Vault.
Fingers crossed that the fire is controlled soon.

Originally posted by steppenwolf86

wouldn't the damn place be underwater if we were all killed by global warming and rising sea levels?

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).[9] 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.

Originally posted by intrptr------>The seeds are "further cooled" by the same power plant?

Originally posted by Hellmutt
The Norwegian article doesn't mention the seed vault, but says that the fire is still not under control, that all available firefighters are currently fighting the flames, and that there are plans to evacuate the island's population, since this plant is the island's sole source of power.

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post by Hellmutt

 

So the fire is out and the plant is out of commission? From the Wiki link you provided...

Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally recommended standard −18 °C (0 °F).[9] 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.

The seeds are "further cooled" by the same power plant? And the temp begins to rise in the vault, right? Isn't temperature rise one of the triggers for seeds to begin sprouting?

Don't know much about it, just wondering...

I won't mind so much if they begin to move the seeds as long as they don't load them on a huge square wooden boat.

Operational costs will be paid by Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust
(...)
The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) has played a key role in the planning of the seed vault

It was established through a partnership between the (1) United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the (2) Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) acting through (3) Bioversity International.

is a specialized agency of the United Nations

In 1970, the Rockefeller Foundation proposed a worldwide network of agricultural research centers under a permanent secretariat. This was further supported and developed by the World Bank, FAO and UNDP, and the CGIAR was established on May 19, 1971

Main funders

Donors include around 30 governments (from both developed and developing countries), the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, major private philanthropic foundations, such as the Christensen Fund, McKnight Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and also corporate bodies, such as Mars Inc, and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.