Ginormous Arctic Seed Vault (National Geographic Video)

[Ruby the Liberal]

I had no idea they were doing this! The scope is tremendous.

Take a look inside the global seed vault in this clip from National Geographic's upcoming 3-night special, "How The Earth Changed History".

The seed vault, built to protect the world's food supply in the event of a global crisis, is located on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago. It was built high enough to avoid rising sea levels, and deep enough into the mountain to be able to withstand a nuclear explosion. The vault is kept at a constant temperature of zero degrees to preserve its contents.

"How The Earth Changed History" premieres Sunday, June 20.

Short video at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/19/global-seed-vault-nationa_n_616316.html

[canetoad]

1. That's very cool

in more ways than one.

From the Seed Vault FAQ

Will genetically modified (GM) plants and seeds be stored in Svalbard Global
Seed Vault?

No GM seeds are stored in the Seed Vault.

Many people are curious about whether genetically modified seeds will be stored in
Svalbard, and what, if any, dangers or advantages such storage might pose to other
samples or to the environment. The dangers are in fact virtually non-existent. Seeds
are stored at -18° Celsius in sealed, air-tight packages inside sealed plastic boxes,
behind multiple sets of locked doors, deep inside a mountain in the far northern
reaches of the Arctic, where there are no farms and no possibility that seeds of any
agricultural crop or its relatives could survive in the natural environment.

The administration of the Seed Vault has decided against specifying which diversity
is worthy of being conserved for future generations; that would be presumptuous and
risky. Nevertheless, at this time, the Seed Vault does not offer storage to GM
varieties. Norwegian law, introduced prior to the establishment of the Seed Vault and
intended to apply more generally to research and use of genetically modified
organisms in Norway, prohibits importation of GM seeds. This law also applies to
their storage in Svalbard.

It should be noted that GM varieties exist for only a few crops, most genebank
collections were assembled before the advent of GM technology, and almost all
existing crop diversity is found in the varieties and crop wild relatives that will find a
home in the Seed Vault. Therefore the Vault will accomplish its purpose of providing
for the long-term conservation of crop diversity and serving as the safety backup for
the world’s genebanks without conserving GM seeds.
http://www.croptrust.org/documents/web/Svalbard%20and%20Trust%20QandA_Oct08.pdf

[Kablooie]

2. Amazing that wise politicians exist who would fund something like this.

[Hannah Bell]

4. uh - bill gates. he also funds genetic modification of ag., big-time.

gee, i wonder what his motive is?

[Kablooie]

12. But he's not a politician. He's a guy who is sharing some of what he has earned.

[tabatha]

6. There are countries where there are wise politicians.

There are even a few in this country. But, very few.

[Hannah Bell]

3. another bill gates project. along with gmo's.

[tabatha]

5. correction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

[Hannah Bell]

7. Yes? Operational costs will be paid by Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.[2]

The primary funding of the Trust came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, Switzerland, and Sweden.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) has played a key role in the planning of the seed vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors, the GCDT is assisting selected genebanks in developing countries as well as the international agricultural research centers in packaging and shipping seeds to the seed vault.


biggest donor to gcdt date = gates foundation: $26 million

next-biggest = uk, $19 million

http://www.croptrust.org/documents/web/Funding%20Status%2004-26-10.pdf


iow, the gates-funded organization *planned* the seed bank & will staff & maintain it. norway *built* the facility & will maintain the building. the gates foundation funding dwarfs any other.

yet another manifestation of corporate power: corporations narrow the genetic pool by flooding the market with their proprietary variants & putting small producers out of business; then they stockpile all the natural variants' germ plasm, while moving into genetic modification.

& this is lauded as some kind of philanthropy & wisdom.

gates foundation is one of the biggest funders of genetically modified ag on the planet.

[tabatha]

8. I was correcting my own previous post.

Should have said so. Sorry.

[Subdivisions]

9. What do 'they' know that we don't? n/t

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. LOL! I don't know, but it makes you wonder, no?

I am going to watch this special tonight. Hopefully, they will address why they are doing this.

[Scurrilous]

11. Thanks.

:thumbsup: