4 ms·

Bad news on that seed vault. [1] 1: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/19/arctic-stronghold-of-worlds-seeds-flooded-after-permafrost-melts https:

by gdubs 7y ago

Bad news on that seed vault. [1] 1: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/19/arctic-stronghold-of-worlds-seeds-flooded-after-permafrost-melts https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/19/arctic-s...

applecrazy 7y ago
Oh, no. I can’t believe it’s gotten this bad. I’m amazed we haven’t done much in the way of climate change control. It’s going to be too late very, very soon.
- numlock86 7y ago
  > It’s going to be too late very, very soon. Sorry to ruin this for you, but it is already too late. We are already in the process of damage control.
  - jug 7y ago
    Due to delayed effects, we aren't even feeling current escalations but CO2 we let out while watching The Terminator.
  - protastus 7y ago
    Climate models indicate it's not too late to avoid a 2°C average temperature increase by 2100 if our energy matrix and heavy industries (concrete, steel and fertilizers) move away from fossil fuels. This takes political conviction and government policy, which in turn requires correct understanding of the situation. "it's too late" is a dangerous statement because it suggests actions no longer matter. And if no action is taken, several climate models project >4 °C average warming. The majority of the planet will be become uninhabitable at the current human density levels, with billions of people having to relocate and/or die.
  - splintercell 7y ago
    Isn't our best course of action to achieve technological progress and fix the situation instead of 'preventing' it? Like build dikes around low lying areas rather than trying to coordinate a worldwide slowdown of economic activity which faces the worst outcome of prisoner's dilemma.
SomeOldThrow 7y ago
> “A lot of water went into the start of the tunnel and then it froze to ice, so it was like a glacier when you went in,” she told the Guardian. Fortunately, the meltwater did not reach the vault itself, the ice has been hacked out, and the precious seeds remain safe for now at the required storage temperature of -18C.
- jug 7y ago
  Also, "The vault managers are now taking precautions, including major work to waterproof the 100m-long tunnel into the mountain and digging trenches into the mountainside to channel meltwater and rain away. They have also removed electrical equipment from the tunnel that produced some heat and installed pumps in the vault itself in case of a future flood."
ChristianGeek 7y ago
How was this not built to be waterproof?!
- nyolfen 7y ago
  it's extremely difficult to build waterproof subterranean buildings, especially if they're built into permafrost (which seems these days to be more like tempofrost). this very long but fascinating video discusses it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nphxoUxSvgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nphxoUxSvgY

by gdubs 7y ago

applecrazy 7y ago

Oh, no. I can’t believe it’s gotten this bad. I’m amazed we haven’t done much in the way of climate change control. It’s going to be too late very, very soon.

numlock86 7y ago
> It’s going to be too late very, very soon. Sorry to ruin this for you, but it is already too late. We are already in the process of damage control.
- jug 7y ago
  Due to delayed effects, we aren't even feeling current escalations but CO2 we let out while watching The Terminator.
- protastus 7y ago
  Climate models indicate it's not too late to avoid a 2°C average temperature increase by 2100 if our energy matrix and heavy industries (concrete, steel and fertilizers) move away from fossil fuels. This takes political conviction and government policy, which in turn requires correct understanding of the situation. "it's too late" is a dangerous statement because it suggests actions no longer matter. And if no action is taken, several climate models project >4 °C average warming. The majority of the planet will be become uninhabitable at the current human density levels, with billions of people having to relocate and/or die.
- splintercell 7y ago
  Isn't our best course of action to achieve technological progress and fix the situation instead of 'preventing' it? Like build dikes around low lying areas rather than trying to coordinate a worldwide slowdown of economic activity which faces the worst outcome of prisoner's dilemma.

SomeOldThrow 7y ago

> “A lot of water went into the start of the tunnel and then it froze to ice, so it was like a glacier when you went in,” she told the Guardian. Fortunately, the meltwater did not reach the vault itself, the ice has been hacked out, and the precious seeds remain safe for now at the required storage temperature of -18C.

jug 7y ago
Also, "The vault managers are now taking precautions, including major work to waterproof the 100m-long tunnel into the mountain and digging trenches into the mountainside to channel meltwater and rain away. They have also removed electrical equipment from the tunnel that produced some heat and installed pumps in the vault itself in case of a future flood."

ChristianGeek 7y ago

How was this not built to be waterproof?!

nyolfen 7y ago
it's extremely difficult to build waterproof subterranean buildings, especially if they're built into permafrost (which seems these days to be more like tempofrost). this very long but fascinating video discusses it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nphxoUxSvgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nphxoUxSvgY