Humanity’s future is locked in an Arctic Doomsday Seed Vault?
originally published on: http://themedicalblog.net/2015/03/03/vault-containing-thousands-of-seeds-could-save-humanity-in-a-crisis/
Eat to live.
That’s a simple clear cut statement. However, there is a cascading complexity behind that simple clear cut statement. The fruits, vegetables, grains, and the meat we eat all require seeds. The animals that humans consume, graze on grass, are fed corn, and other grain. The beer, wine, and liquor we drink is based off barley, hops, grapes and other grains that originate from seeds.
The medicine we take to cure or manage diseases and ailments, are plant-based because drugs are synthesized from plant based molecules in nature. The clothes we wear are largely based on cotton (from a cotton seed) and leather from animals that consume vegetation for the most part.
As humans we must become more concerned and cognizant of global food security. The lack of high quality seeds is directly correlated to our ultimate survival (or extinction) on Earth.
Science and technology have never waited on anybody, and never will. Researchers, scientists, and engineers have designed a DOOMSDAY SEED VAULT in the Arctic.
The SVALBARD SEED VAULT is located on an archipelago in Norway. The seed vault is reportedly built into the side of a mountain on one of Norway’s remote islands. The vault has amassed seed populations of over 800,000 diverse seeds from every inch of the globe. The rarest and most ancient seeds that date back thousands of years is warehoused here, along with the most recent addition, 21,000 Marijuana seeds.
The motive, intention, or impetus for constructing this DOOMSDAY SEED VAULT is centered on preservation of seed diversity in case of any environmental ecological catastrophe. The various articles I’ve read give diverse examples of what they are safeguarding the seeds from. The developers cite natural disasters like the possibilities of tsunamis, volcanoes, asteroids, decreased water and nutrient availability, earthquakes, and pestilence. They also cite manmade disasters: war, population growth, and climate change.
This vault will serve as the agricultural hard drive of all seeds. Whenever an ecological disaster occurs, they have the seed back up to replenish and restore species of crops that would otherwise be permanently eradicated.
The vault is watched by the Norwegian government, but financed by various entities, and people like Bill and Melinda Gates. The overall management of the vault is claimed by the GLOBAL CROP DIVERSITY TRUST.
A New York Times article describes it as the “Fort Knox” of seeds. The vault has been in construction for years and initially opened in 2008. Its been fortified in a manner to resist a nuclear disaster and asteroids. Expert predictions say that it’s built to last at least 1000 years. No one person has all the access codes to gain complete access. There is no full time staff, seed delivery dates are specific, and tightly controlled.
The researchers, scientists, engineers, and sponsors all think that it’s just a matter of time until one of the aforementioned disasters strike and devastate the planet. There are groups that have concerns about the warehousing of seeds, and the implications of global agricultural control.
I found this to be very interesting, personally. I think that it’s smart to have an agricultural contingency plan, and this is a proactive maneuver to combat permanent crop loss. I also have reservations about agricultural and nutritional control, because there is a human component to the process.
The human component always introduces the potential for corruption of power and control. We also have real time evidence of nutritional market control with companies like Monsanto and the “patenting” of what was placed on Earth naturally for all to enjoy. Remember in earlier times, seeds have been used in bartering, and currency. Wars have been fought over crops like the OPIUM WARS, Tobacco crops have generated hundreds of billions of dollars, and markets were established to facilitate the SPICE TRADE.
However, I feel that communities across America can network and develop other innovative and sustainable systems of agriculture themselves.
