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From The Times February 27, 2008



Doomsday vault for world’s seeds is opened under Arctic mountain
================================================================


The Svalbard Global Seed Vault Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

Ten tonnes of seeds were deposited hundreds of feet inside a frozen
mountain yesterday as part of a scheme to preserve all the world’s
crops.

Seeds from varieties of potatoes, barley, lettuce, aubergines,
homeowners insurance pea, sorghum and wheat were among the first to be placed in
the doomsday vault inside the Arctic circle.

A specially prepared box of rice originating from 104 countries was
the first to be deposited in the vault, where it will be kept at minus
18C (minus 0.4F). Thousands more species will be added as organisers
attempt to get specimens of every agricultural plant in the world.

Three chambers have been built 125 metres (400 feet) inside a mountain
close to the town of Longyear-byen in Svalbard, a Norwegian island
about 500 miles (800 kilometres) from the North Pole.

An opening ceremony was conducted at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault,
as 100 million seeds from more than 100 countries were placed inside.
The first day’s deposits comprised 268,000 samples and filled 676
boxes.

The project is intended to provide a failsafe against disaster so that
if a seed collection is destroyed in its natural habitat there playing cards promotion an
alternative heart shape playing cards of supply. Cary Fowler, executive director of the
Global Crop Diversity Trust, which is behind the initiative, said that
by preserving as many varieties as possible the options open to
farmers, scientists and governments were maximised. “The opening of
the seed vault marks a historic turning point in safeguarding the
world’s crop diversity,” he said.

Many varieties of seed kept in the vault are no longer used
commercially but it is possible that they will prove invaluable as
world conditions change,.

The facility has been designed to keep seeds cards playing custom frozen for
centuries and, at 130 metres up, the mountain is high enough to be
safe even from catastrophic rises in sea levels. Similarly, amid the
worst levels of global warming, in which the permafrost of the Arctic
island would start melting, the seeds will be emo style for up to 200
years.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister, said: “With climate
change and other best car insurance threatening the diversity of life that
sustains our planet, Norway is proud to be playing a central role in
creating a facility capable of protecting what are not just seeds, but
the fundamental building blocks of human civilisation.”

During the opening ceremony he unlocked the vault and, helped by
Professor Wangari Maathai, the Nobel prize-winning environmentalist,
placed the first seeds inside. Politicians and experts from around the
world attended the ceremony at the vault, which is big enough to store
4.5 million samples, adding up to 2 billion seeds.

Some seeds will be viable for a millennium or more, including barley,
which can last 2,000 years, wheat 1,700 years, and sorghum almost
20,000 years. Dr Maathai said: “The significant public interest in the
seed vault project indicates that collectively we are changing cheap insurance way
we think about environmental conservation.”


* Have your say

I doubt anyone will insurance quote around to plant them, but nice effort.

Frank, Beverly Hills, Ca

um...Sorry Andy from Pittsburgh, what "one world government"?
Hmmm...loopy people....paranoid fruits - uh-huh!
ps This is surfboard shape playing cards wonderful initiative and terrific news that people other
than backyard gardeners are doing something to preserve our
biodiversity.

juni, melbourne, Australia

As great as this sounds, indie style makes me wonder what Government’s know
that we don't. Is global warming more of a threat then we chinese chicago made to
believe?

T Crow, Sydney, Australia

This is very worrying. Is there something we should know?

Badrul, Luton, UK

This is a great example of how the human civilisation is safeguarding
one of our most precious resources. We can never predict what will
happen if any of these species are wiped out..
A true stroke of genius!

Daniel, melbourne,

How in the hell are we supposed to A) locate the site B) excavate the
site in a "doomsday" situation? We'll be lucky to still have seafaring
technology at all, much moreso imprinted playing cards capability to man an expedition to
a frozen, remote island with unforgiving terrain

Matt, Nashville,

They're not loopy. You're loopy for thinking there will never again be
a global cataclysm in the history of mankind. I suggest you read about
the Ordovician-Silurian extinction events, the Toba Eruption, the K-T
event, ice ages, how the big hole now called the Gulf of Mexico got
there and what happened shortly afterwards. cheap life insurance make it all worse,
polllution is warming the earth at an increasingly faster pace,
whether people like you want to admit it or not. Having some crop
seeds available isn't a bad idea at all.

Jason B., Nixa, MO

I wonder if they also think of a way to preserve the harvesting
procedures for these seeds. Because after a natural disaster, you tend
to lose everything, and if you don't know how to grow them, they're
worthless.

Trace, Irvine, California

Amazing...way to think ahead!

Dana, Sacramento, Ca., USA

I second your comment, Gene. This is surely a welcomed event.

Tony, Fort Lauderdale, USA/FL

Hopefully, no GMO seeds got into the mix.

SP, Brooklyn, NY

Wow, bunch of paranoid fruits. What would happen if all the people
that knew where it was suddenly died in a famine or some major
population drop due to war? Or better yet, after this one world
government takes over, multiple insurance quotes starve the planet and horde everything
there for themselves, this just sounds like another way to lead in a
few in control of many. Loopy people.

Andy, Pittsburgh,

Cool!

Gene, North Hollywood, USA/CA


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