2024-11-21T16:44:15-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150008702/global-warming-has-caused-meltwater-to-penetrate-the-global-seed-vault-in-the-arctic Nicholas Korody 2017-05-22T12:39:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/wx/wxniz28jltj4ucbk.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>It was designed as an impregnable deep-freeze to protect the world&rsquo;s most precious seeds from any global disaster and ensure humanity&rsquo;s food supply forever. But the Global Seed Vault, buried in a mountain deep inside the Arctic circle, has been breached after global warming produced extraordinary temperatures over the winter, sending meltwater gushing into the entrance tunnel.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Containing almost one million packets of seeds, the Global Seed Vault is intended to serve as something of a biological back-up in the era of mass, man-made environmental destruction. It's buried under permafrost, which was thought to ensure that the structure would remain impregnable for thousands of years. But already global warming has threatened this archive of living matter.</p><p>&ldquo;This is supposed to last for eternity,&rdquo; stated &Aring;smund Asdal at the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, which operates the seed vault. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case.</p>