In case of apocalypse: where is the planet’s seed storage facility

If you think that the topic of a global planetary catastrophe is of concern only to directors and screenwriters of Hollywood films, then you are deeply mistaken. World leaders have long been preoccupied with the question of the survival of mankind after a global cataclysm, and at the highest level. Back in 2006, at the initiative of the UN, the World Bank for Planting Material was created, which is reliably sheltered in permafrost.

World Seed Storage

Such an important object for the entire population of the Earth is located in the Norwegian city of Longyearbyen. In addition to such an honorable mission - to become the location of the repository - this city has a number of interesting features.

Longyearbyen is located on the island of Western Svalbard of the Svalbard archipelago and is the northernmost settlement in the world with a population of more than 1000 people. The town cannot boast a long history: it was founded in 1906. It is noteworthy that its founder was an enterprising American engineer John Munro Longyearby, in whose honor the settlement was named. An American engaged in coal mining on the island and laid a mine in the village. But ten years later, John Longyearbyen lost interest in the polar latitudes and sold the settlement to the Norwegian company.

Longyearbyen

Since then, Longyearbyen belongs to Norway. Coal mining was carried out in the nearest mine until the 90s of the last century, but then almost stopped. Today, the town produces coal only for its own needs, but it has another mission - it built the World Repository of planting material.

This is how the entrance to the store looks

The place for organizing the storage was not chosen by chance at all: Svalbard is located in the permafrost distribution zone, and tectonic activity in the region is very low. The entrance to the underground storage is located at an altitude of 130 meters above sea level, so he is not afraid of rising sea levels. The bunker itself is underground, at a depth of 120 meters, and a constant temperature is maintained in its premises.

Each country that expressed a desire received a place to place its planting material. Inside, the storehouse looks like a quite ordinary warehouse: plastic containers are located on identical metal shelves, where the seed material of agricultural crops is stored in special bags. Seeds are packed in such a way as to protect them from oxygen. Low temperature and lack of oxygen are designed to keep seeds fresh for as long as possible.

Despite the fact that Svalbard has an arctic climate and the surface is rather cold, the underground storage is equipped with special equipment that maintains the temperature at minus 18 ° C. But in the event of an unforeseen accident and equipment shutdown, the storage facility can provide negative air temperature for several weeks.

However, Longyearbyen is not only remarkable for its strategic location. In this Norwegian city you cannot die, about which the relevant law has been passed. The fact is that the Svalbard archipelago is a land of polar bears and, despite the presence of people, they are the sovereign masters of this land. It will not be possible to bury the deceased here: permafrost contributes to the long preservation of buried bodies, which in turn attracts polar bears. In this regard, all seriously ill patients (as well as already deceased patients) are transferred to the territory of Norway.

But the coal mine and the worldwide seed storage are not the only places where the inhabitants of Longyearbyen work. In recent years, the Norwegian leadership pays special attention to the development of tourism and research projects. The town has a school, a hospital and all the necessary infrastructure for life.

Watch the video: Inside the Svalbard Seed Vault (March 2024).

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