The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was established in Norway in 2008. It’s purpose is to act as a safeguard against the loss of seeds in other genebanks in the event of large scale regional crises. There are almost one million types of seeds in the vault, to be used in case genebanks lose samples due to mismanagement, accident, or natural disaster. Unfortunately, due to global warming, the permafrost is not refreezing and the vault is in danger.
It's an ironic turn of events for the creators of the vault, who chose the location for the vault "because the area is not prone to volcanoes or earthquakes, while the Norwegian political system is also extremely stable,'" said CNN.
Because of the warming, the permafrost around the underground vault's tunnel entrance has not refrozen. That led to leaking water in the tunnel in October 2016, which then froze into ice.
In response, CNN reported, "Statsbygg [the Norwegian state agency in charge of real estate] undertook 100 million Norwegian krone ($11.7 million) of reconstruction work, more than double the original cost of the structure."
But the warming now may become unsustainable for the structure. It's already forcing changes to Longyearbyen's population of 2,144 as the people in the town find themselves scrambling to avoid avalanches and deal with a changing climate that's more often dumping rain rather than snow.
"We can't trust the permafrost anymore," said Statsbygg communications manager Hege Njaa Aschim.
Losing a species of seed is no different from losing a species of animal. Once they’re extinct, they’re not coming back.
Other seed banks are in conflict areas and can be damaged by bombs, or the people overseeing them vaults can flee. Palmer pointed to the example of a seed bank in Aleppo, the Syrian city that has been bombed to rubble in the country’s eight-year civil war, as one that has faced particular challenges in recent years.
Natural disasters like earthquakes also pose a risk to seed banks, and rising sea levels could flood others.
The loss of a particular seed variety, Crop Trust notes, is as irreversible as a dinosaur extinction.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is naturally cold and is protected from natural disasters, Palmer said. It also has steady funding, and is situated in a stable country.
“Norway is seen as a trusted country that’s very transparent,” Palmer said. “There’s lots of issues dealing with cultural property, national property, and countries need a partner they can really trust.”
“The reason these gene banks are important is they hold different crop samples and they’re used by breeders to develop crops that can withstand climate change, more drought, pests, diseases,” he said. “They supply scientists with innovation to outsmart some of the challenges we’re all facing in global food production.”
While “doomsday vault” may conjure up apocalyptic visions of rebuilding after nuclear disaster and some such, Global Citizen points out that the vault is actually more like backing up a hard drive. In all events, this vault may be in danger and it’s loss is irreplaceable.