The Global Seed Vault, designed as an impregnable deep-freeze to safeguard the world's most precious seeds from any global disaster, has been breached after unusually high Arctic temperatures caused meltwater to flood its entrance tunnel. Located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the vault contains nearly a million seed packets of vital food crops. When it opened in 2008, the surrounding permafrost was expected to provide failsafe protection against natural or man-made disasters.
However, soaring temperatures at the end of the hottest recorded year led to melting and heavy rain, instead of the expected light snow. Hege Njaa Aschim of the Norwegian government, which owns the vault, stated, 'It was not in our plans to think that the permafrost would not be there and that it would experience extreme weather like that.' The meltwater froze inside the tunnel, forming a glacier-like ice mass, but did not reach the vault itself. The seeds remain safe at -18°C.
The incident has raised doubts about the vault's ability to serve as a lifeline for humanity in a catastrophe. 'It was supposed to operate without the help of humans, but now we are watching the seed vault 24 hours a day,' Aschim said. Managers are assessing whether this winter's extreme heat is a one-off or a sign of escalating climate change. The end of 2016 saw average temperatures over 7°C above normal on Spitsbergen, pushing permafrost above melting point.
Ketil Isaksen of Norway's Meteorological Institute noted, 'The Arctic and especially Svalbard warms up faster than the rest of the world. The climate is changing dramatically and we are all amazed at how quickly it is going.' In response, vault managers are waterproofing the 100-metre tunnel, digging trenches to divert meltwater, removing heat-producing electrical equipment, and installing pumps inside the vault.
Aschim emphasised the vault's importance: 'We have to find solutions. It is a big responsibility and we take it very seriously. We are doing this for the world.' Åsmund Asdal of the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, which operates the vault, added, 'This is supposed to last for eternity.'
