Doomsday Seed Vault Design Unveiled

in2mind writes "The BBC News is reporting on the completion of a design for a 'doomsday' vault ... that will house seeds. All known varieties of food crops will be represented in the structure, which will be constructed by the Norwegian government. The vault aims to safeguard the world's agriculture from future catastrophes by building into the side of a mountain. On a remote island. Near the North pole. The Svalbard International Seed Vault will house the seed samples at a preservative -18C (0F), and could be used by post-apocalyptic people to feed a hungry planet."

Distributed Repositories

[Camel Pilot]

Seems like putting all your eggs in a single basket is maybe not the best solution.

Since seeds are cheap why not distribute storage repositories around the globe?

Nonetheless I am thankful that the Norwegians are doing this for potentially all of humanity.

Come to think about it, I suppose the fact that our collective genome is stuck on this planet is akin to putting all your eggs in a single fragile basket.

Re:yeah.

[spykemail]

You're my hero. But seriously, you'd think the location of this vault might just be forgotten during the APOCALYPSE.

People? Who said anything about people?

[Dark Kenshin]

"... and could be used by post-apocalyptic people to feed a hungry planet"

Am I the only one who read this as to not mean the hungry people on the planet? I read it more as a means to rebuild the eco-system of the world, thus feeding the planet. Sure, building the agriculture back up will in turn feed the people; but a long term goaled project like this surly is planning for a long term result.

Re:Here's a sci-fi plot

[naoursla]

Or a twilight zone episode.

Or maybe an H. P. Lovecraft story...

Scientists go to the North Pole build a doomsday vault so that they will have food in case of a global catastrophe. They discover that a hidden chamber with alien hieroglyphics on the seal. Through careful study and in-depth analysis they decipher the code and learn that WE are the doomsday vault that an ancient race prepared in case of a global catastrophe. The seal is broken. The Old Ones begin to return from the deep unknown to feed.

Should be on equator -- Ice age is coming

[Anonymous Coward]

We're at the end of the current 20,000-year interglacial period of warmth and about to plunge back down into a frigid 80,000-year period of glaciation. [wikipedia.org]

The 100,000-year glaciation cycle is as regular as clockwork, and nobody really has a clue how to stop it. (Chucking massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere isn't anywhere near enough.)

So shouldn't the Doomsday Vault be located somewhere where it can be reached, rather than on a mountain side that will soon be (geologically speaking) under 3 kilometers of ice?

Re:Distributed Repositories

[Camel Pilot]

I am cynical

Yup you are....

but the escape to space seems not really a good idea. If we're not capable of keeping one planet in good health for the climate, the life varieties, and our fellow humans, we don't really deserve to colonize other places.

Looking back at the history of the earth there are dozens of mass or large extinction events that happened without any help from humans at all. The list of possible catastrophes includes

• Iceage
• Asteroid Collision
• Massive Volcanic Eruptions
• Supernova
• Magnetic Field Distruptions
• Solar Output Fluctuations
• etc.....

we don't really deserve to colonize other places

Look at this another way. If we don't colonize other places we may not deserve to be the species that propagates self-aware life to infinity and beyond.

Since it appears we are pretty much alone in this, I guess it may just be our responsibility. There are not any close by mentoring ET civilizations to help us out and I don't think the whales are going to make it.

In the larger picture, earth may just be a womb; warm, wet and comfortable - but like a womb that maybe just a temporary arrangement and was never meant to be a long term home.

Re:How long will a post-apocalyptic population las

[msobkow]

You're supposed to plant them. :p

But rather than traditional nuclear winter scenarios, I think it's a good idea in case any of the bio-engineered crops ever goes rogue, or some freak disease or pest wipes out a species. How many hurricanes would it take to wipe out, say, the localized strains of rice in a region? One year of disasters? Two? Five?

Or one particularly pernicious bio-engineered cross breeding that produces sterile (no seed) offspring?

Re:Some thoughts...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are many vaults like this all around the world. I visited the world rice bank at IRRI in the phillipines last year, its a complete store of all strains of rice on the planet. Many such places exist. This one just plans to be the most comprehensive.

Re:How long will a post-apocalyptic population las

[CmdrGravy]

The island is very unlikely to be underwater, they have used forecasts for the most aggresive global warming imaginable over the next 200 years and specifically chosen this site because it will be unaffected. A lot of the mountains on these islands are over 1000M high and any sea rise of even half that distance is likely to destroy so much of civilization that seed banks will be the last of our worries.