![]() The Ministry of Agriculture and Food handles the administration. The Norwegian government owns the vault, which is built of angular concrete. Whatever befalls us on Doomsday, survivors will have food to eat, cultural artifacts to treasure, sweet treats to enjoy, and maybe even pets to pamper. For example, Australian wild rice is resilient to pests and disease. Doomsday vault at Arctic fails to escape climate change and gets flooded Doomsday vault at Arctic fails to escape climate change and gets flooded Doomsday va. The seeds' genetic traits make them vital if a species of plant is wiped out by war, drought or floods. The Global Seed Vault opened in 2008 as a way to protect and preserve seeds in case of worldwide agricultural calamity. Even if the power fails, the temperature inside would eventually stabilize at -8 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit), which is low enough to preserve the vault's contents for decades.Īschim said media headlines citing global warming as the cause of the permafrost melt were speculation, but that is one of the theories scientists are investigating. The permafrost acts like nature's refrigerator. Remediation efforts include removing power transformers from the entrance of the tunnel, allowing fewer people into the tunnel, and building waterproof walls inside the tunnel entrance, Aschim said. ![]() But "we will not take any chances," Aschim said. Loss of the collection would be irreplaceable. But now workers are trying to waterproof the tunnel leading in and create ways to channel water and melting permafrost away from the structure. She said the management team, along with climate scientists from University Centre in Svalbard, don't know if the event was part of a long-term cycle or if it will escalate. The vault is supposed to be unlocked only for deposits, which happen three or four times a year. "We have seen changes the ground is looser and the permafrost has not settled as planned," Aschim said Friday. Water seeped only about 15 meters in to part of an access tunnel during the "very unusual warm and rainy October," according to Aschim. The seeds were unharmed by the water breach, said Hege Njaa Aschim, a spokeswoman for the management company, Statsbygg. Carved into the side of a mountain, the vault holds more than 500 million seeds from around the globe that could be used to recreate food supplies. The Global Seed Vault is beneath the icy permafrost of Svalbard, midway between Norway and the North Pole. ![]() SVALBARD, Norway - Unseasonably warm temperatures last fall caused water to breach the entrance to the Arctic's so-called "Doomsday" seed vault, one of humanity's last hopes after a global catastrophe, the company that manages the vault said last week. ![]()
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