Have you heard of "The Doomsday Vault" ?
Did you know the future of the world's agriculture will soon be protected by roaming polar bears?
Safe behind metre-thick walls, deep in the permafrosted rock of a mountain in the Norwegian Svalbard Islands, not so far from the North Pole, about two million seeds representing all the varieties of world crops will soon be protected from all manner of disaster: global warming, nuclear war, changing sea levels, crop disease, Monsanto, you name it. 
It's a far cry from Seedy Saturday , an annual local event where many people collect and trade heritage seeds, but I suppose the world has come to the point where we need to protect our future vegetables with blast-proof walls.
For instance, in the New Scientist article I noticed the mention of a terrorist attack in the 1980's on an international potato-seed bank in the Peruvian Andes...who knew 'tater seeds would be a viable target?
11 comments:
The world's population of polar bears is vanishing at an alarming rate due to global warming -- sorry, Spider, but they won't be there to protect the seeds, because we're murdering them.
What a happy thought to start a Friday morning. :P
Not much deterrent to me since I'm not big on veggies, but I have a yen for polar bear. Nobody knows I've been hunting them to extinction since I do it under my false identity, Global Warming.
Hi Spider
I've heard that if global warming continues, and the polar caps keep melting, many of the Islands of the world will end up underwater...How high above sea level are these Svalberd Islands? All these seeds may end up under the ocean.
Hey Spider Girl.
That's an interesting bit of information!
I hope someone will protect the polar bears...
Take care out there!
Your Pal,
Zambo.
I did read about the Doomsday Vault. I wonder if they'll be saving human seeds in there too? I also wonder how I sign up to donate. What could be better than knowing that in the event of a nuclear holocaust that you spawned the second coming of the entire human race. (Ok, I know this is a weird thought/comment, but I can't be the only one who thought it)
I did not know that,thank you for informing me!
I had heard that about our polar bears too:(
Do not take the mickey out of anti terrorist campaigns dear. You can get into trouble for that ;-)
I keep my tater seeds in a numbered account in Antigua...guy can't be too carefull these days.
I have, sadly, heard about the Doomsday Vault. I just try not to think about it...
Why can't they do this with nuclear waste?
This is the coolest idea yet. I'm so excited about it, and I'm glad someone is taking global warming seriously.
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