Banner by Madison Martin

Svalbard Saving Humanity

By Maddie Verhagen

The Doomsday Clock is 90 seconds to midnight — the closest humanity has ever been to an apocalypse. The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor that represents humanity inching toward our demise, one which we have perpetuated through nuclear warfare and climate change. Each year, scientists who specialize in nuclear technology and climate science determine whether the clock’s hands stay the same or tick forward. On January 24th, 2023, scientists moved the clock hands ten seconds closer to midnight. Since the clock hands seem to be moving only closer to our demise, preventative measures — such as genebanks — have been arranged as a saving grace for humanity. 

A genebank is a place where genetic material is managed and stored for future use. Genetic material stored in these banks is usually living and can be anything from zebra gametes to coral fragments. Yet, one of the most important specimens stored within genebanks are seeds. Worldwide, there are more than 1,750 seed banks to ensure that in the event of a disaster that wipes out an entire region of crops, there are seeds in storage to reintroduce the extirpated crops back into the area. It may seem like 1,750 seed banks, each storing thousands of seeds, is sufficient backup for the world’s food supply, right? Maybe not. 

Many of these banks are susceptible to damage from wars, natural disasters, or lack of funding, as preserving seeds takes more resources than one may think. Freezers are a necessity to maintain the optimal minus 18 degrees Celsius required for seed preservation. Humidity levels must be low to slow metabolic activity within the seeds to keep them viable for longer. During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, vaults have been looted and defaced. In Italy and Cameroon, power outages caused the loss of thousands of samples. If the 1,750 seed banks around the world are not enough insurance for humanity, then what possibly could be?

In a region seldom touched by the human race, the farthest north a scheduled flight on a commercial plane flies, lies the potential future savior for humanity. Amid the permafrost in a remote archipelago off of Norway’s coast, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is home to millions of seeds from across the globe. The location of the vault was meticulously picked by a group of researchers in 2004. The freezing temperatures and remoteness of this archipelago does not give way for much human development, as it is generally inhabited by around 3,000 people. The isolated location and small population makes Svalbard unlikely to be the target of any violence. It is the safest place in which these tiny morsels of life can be stored. 

The only part of the vault visible from the outside is a thin wedge of concrete jutting out of a mountain — the entrance to the 120 meter deep vault. Built deep inside of a mountain that is surrounded in permafrost, the seeds can be kept frozen for up to 200 years without electricity. This stark and unnatural entrance may seem intimidating and alien, but behind its doors are simply freezers and freezers full of seeds! Since its opening in 2008, the massive vault has accumulated 1,165,041 samples from almost every country in the world, including historical samples like heirloom seeds deposited by the Cherokee Nation which date back earlier than European colonization. 

Adding yet another seed vault, bigger in size than ever before, seems redundant when there are already 1,750 other vaults around the world. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault acts as insurance for these thousand plus smaller vaults; it is intended to be used only when other vaults’ seeds have been damaged or depleted. However, in the event of a worldwide catastrophe like a nuclear winter or the extinction of crops worldwide, the seeds in the vault can be directly planted to be used immediately. As such, the vault and its tunnel inside the mountain are modeled after those in military facilities so the massive structure is able to withstand incremental or catastrophic events such as nuclear bombs or asteroids. The ability of the Svalbard Seed Vault to restore agricultural biodiversity is essential for our existence as the climate continues to change and population continues to grow. 

Without variation among the crops we grow, an entire plant population could easily be wiped out. For instance, with climate change persisting, the rise in temperatures can negatively impact plant growth for crops that are specifically grown in more northern areas. Plant scientists rely on genetic diversity to breed favorable traits like temperature or drought resistance among crops. Genetically similar crops that cannot withstand the increasing temperatures will suffer, which makes agricultural biodiversity crucial for safeguarding our food supply. 

In 2012, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault made its first withdrawal during the Syrian Civil war. The immense destruction around the seed vault near Aleppo, Syria made it impossible to access its seeds. As a result, they moved the vault from Syria to Lebanon to prevent damage in the future. ICARDA, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, asked the Svalbard Global Seed Vault for 130 of the 325 boxes, about 116,000 samples, that had been initially deposited into the Norwegian vault to compensate for seeds they had lost during the war. 

An event like this is a small-scale instance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s capabilities. If the Global Vault did not exist, the seeds from the Syrian seed vault would not be as easily replaced. Without this backup, the seeds lost in the Syrian genebank would be more susceptible to future extinction. This event is the only time samples have been taken from the doomsday vault due to a disaster. 

ICARDA manages the largest genebanks in the world, other than the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, holding precious seeds that date back 7,000 years ago to the very start of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent. The seeds under ICARDA’s management are evolved to withstand drought, high temperatures, disease, and heatwaves — the ideal type of seeds to survive the effects of climate change. The Svalbard Seed Vault has the ability to preserve these precious historical seeds and ensure their survival despite future catastrophic events.

There is no doubt that if humans remain stagnant in our way of living — without regard for the environment or the manufacturing of nuclear warfare — there will be a doomsday in our near future. The doomsday vault is not something we should count on to save humanity; only curbing climate change and the creation of dangerous nuclear technologies will set the hands of the Doomsday Clock back. But, the doomsday vault can withstand various calamitous events and preserve seeds to restore Earth’s biodiversity, if it ever comes to that.

Contained in the shelves of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault are seeds from Ukraine that sit upon seeds from Russia, and seeds from North Korea that sit upon seeds from South Korea. As the Doomsday Clock hands are moving closer to midnight, and humanity is failing to band together to stop the perpetuation of climate change and the threat of nuclear destruction, at least we have the seeds as a last resort. Humanity could learn a lesson from the seeds to save our once beautiful home, the Earth, before the damage we have done becomes irreversible.