The last hope of life on earth: Svalbard. Most of humanity
depends on just 12 plant species, down from over 7,000 historically. Fortunately, seeds can be viable for
up to thousands of years, and seed banks have already preserved many species, including the
entire plant population of Antarctica. But with
seed banks being destroyed as the result of wars and accident, Norway has
has begun work on an underground facility, protected by polar bears, in the
Arctic permafrost that is designed to hold millions of seeds, as
"final safety net" for humanity.
posted by blahblahblah
on Jun 19, 2006 -
36 comments
