Essentially pointless but mildly interesting story

Hmm, I wonder why I never got that job writing headlines for the Sun? :inquisitive:

Anyway, onto the point http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6335899.stm

Life in Norway is apparently so good that they have time to worry about this, on behalf of the whole planet:

Quote:

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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

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Leaving aside the fact that its an awful long way to go for a packet of carrot seeds, I was broadly pleased to read this. All of these long term planning projects interest me, if only because of the sense of perspective they can give to our problems (which is often comforting and sometimes terrifying, but that is another story). Lkewise I salute the guy who came up with the idea of the 10,000 year clock http://www.longnow.org/

(One thing I don't understand though is why on earth they are building a weapons grade underground repository at the arse end of nowhere, when the seeds only last for a few decades? Its not really a long now perspective is it? What scenario sees the entire global supply of cabbages destroyed, and yet gets us back in a position to be voyaging to the arctic and going gardening again in 50 years or so? Surely over that timescale the seeds would be just as safe, if not safer, stored in basements in, say, London, NY, Buenos Aires, Capetown, Bejing and Sydney?)

Anyway, there's no real angle on this one, I just thought I'd share it as a counterbalance to worrying about what you are going to do this weekend.

I guess if there is a serious global catastrophe, and the seeds stocks are replenished regularly, a 20-30 year window for some sort of civilisation to get back on its feet would be realistic. If it takes longer, I guess they'll all be eating sunflower seeds rather than peas and mash.

What I want to know is how are they going to guarantee the guy with the key to get in survives?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As for cabbages, there's no danger we will run out as most of them are in power.

I can see Survivor: Norway coming soon. There are a few veggies I'd like to vote out of the vault. :laugh4:

Seed banks are a serious issue. Not only for established crop strains, but also their wild relatives which have a habit of dying out when their domesticated cousins are spread around. Keeping original landraces of staple crops is essential as they are genetically much more variable and often harbour genes that will have useful properties. A classic example is after the Irish potato famine, Mexican wild potatoes were found that had genes for blight-resistance (not that genetics as such were fully understood then :beam: ) Similar issues have arisen with maize, and possibly rice, but I can't recall the details. During the siege of Leningrad in WWII, the staff of the seedbank there were so dedicated to preserving their stocks that they starved rather than raid the vaults, and I think the Director was made a 'Hero of the Soviet Union', or somesuch.

Of course seeds in storage will only last so long - refrigeration helps, and natural refrigeration is a lot cheaper, hence Svalbard :2thumbsup: Every few years the stocks will need to be "grown out" and recollected. Generally the larger the seed the longer time it will remain viable in storage, so grains are particularly important. Bear in mind that about 10 species of grain provide 80% of the world's staple calories, any failure due to a new disease or pest could be devastating if we do not preserve the genetic variety that could be harbouring genes for resistance.

:2cents:

& BG : you're so right about the cabbages :laugh4:

Reminds me of a story I read in National Geographic about the "Potato Guards" during the siege of Leningrad.

The Germans had Leningrad bottled up for years, and starvation was a constant threat. During the winter, a group of Russians kept a constant fire burning in a basement to keep the seed potatos from freezing, saving them for the next year's crop. Even though starving themselves, they didn't eat the potatos.

Quite the will power when you consider these people were eating "starvation bread" made from leaves and sawdust.

Doomsday Vault?!?

I take it Dr. Strangelove was unavailable for comment...