The Svalbard Global Seed Vault could come to humanity's rescue. To keep its valuable resources safe, Norway is spending close to $13 million to upgrade it.
The vault was officially opened in 2008, and originally cost about $9 million. But given its increasingly important role amid mounting climate change threats, the Norwegian government wants to upgrade the facilities. Several days ago, the government announced an overhaul that they plan to begin shortly, which will involve spending 100 million Norwegian Krone ($12,779,000) to seriously beef up the vault.
For one, the vault has already been needed. In 2015, Syria's ICARDA seed bank withdrew samples from the vault — a first — so it could restore its collection after sustaining damage during war. It's fortunate that Svalbard had the seeds that were needed. ICARDA returned the samples to the vault in 2017.
Last year, it was also discovered that the seed bank is more vulnerable than it might seem. The vault is buried in permafrost in a mountain on an isolated island in the northernmost place in the world that has scheduled flights. More polar bears than people wander around outside. The five doors are only opened for deposits, when seeds are carried down the long tunnel to a chamber kept at -18 degrees Celsius. It's supposed to stay frozen for 200 years, even if the power goes out.
But in May of 2017, melting permafrost caused caused a glacier-like flow of water to freeze inside the tunnel. Though permafrost is by definition supposed to stay frozen, it didn't. (Right now, the Arctic is experiencing record warmth for winter.)
Luckily, the water didn't reach the main chamber and workers were able to remove the ice. But the new upgrades would provide additional backups.
