Chapter 632 Doomsday Seed Bank
Longyearbyen lacks some of the prosperity of the world, but has more of the beauty of being covered in snow.
Looking down from the sky with a drone, in addition to the endless white, you can also see a touch of green, which is the plant life growing in the snow.
Unlike what the audience imagines, the Svalbard Islands are not completely covered by ice and snow, and there is rare "vegetation" everywhere.
In low-lying and moist areas, you can always see plants of various colors.
There are flowers, grass, and even a special plant - Edelweiss.
The shape of this flower is very similar to cotton, and it is white and blooms all over the mountains.
There are no towering trees or dense jungles here. This touch of green is the "swan song" of the summer in the Svalbard Islands.
Year after year, you can finally see the tenaciously growing vegetation in summer.
Walking on the road, you can see warning signs everywhere on the roadside, and what they say is not "Beware of vehicles", but "Beware of polar bears".
Such a scene is absurd, as if one has not come to the real world, but to the polar bear kingdom in "The Golden Compass".
Bifang pointed at the sign and laughed, "Only Longyearbyen in Svalbard has road signs like this, because there are nearly 5,000 polar bears in the entire area, but there are less than 2,000 permanent residents."
That’s right, there are more polar bears here than there are local people.
Although it is a habitable place, the low temperature throughout the year and even the endless snowfields discourage many people from visiting.
As mineral resources were depleted, the scattered gathering places were gone, leaving only the city of Longyearbyen.
There are only about 2,000 people living here all year round, most of whom are Norwegians and white bears, and the rest are scientific researchers from all over the world.
Of course, some people live scattered around the Svalbard Islands, but most of them live together because they are worried about attacks by polar bears.
This situation reminded Bifang of the story about kangaroos invading Uruguay.
"So if there is an organized riot of polar bears, it means that on average one person will have to deal with more than two polar bears."
"This is the largest carnivore in the world, with a body length of between two and three meters, and an adult male can often weigh more than half a ton."
As the northernmost city on Earth, it is only 1,300 kilometers away from the North Pole. It is also the only remaining large landmass besides Greenland and one of the strongholds of polar bears.
While walking on the path, Bifang even saw a polar bear looking at him from afar, but as soon as their eyes met, it ran away in panic, with its hair fluttering in the wind.
[ Hahaha, escaped]
[Polar Bear: After we made eye contact, I found out that he is someone I cannot afford to offend]
[A chill on the back of the polar bear]
As long as there are people living here, there will be all kinds of infrastructure, including hotels, churches, post offices, and even pedestrian streets. This place is no different from ordinary cities.
The only difference is that there are few entertainment, transportation, financial and educational facilities.
But this is also an inevitable dilemma for Svalbard.
There were few cars on the road, and it looked very deserted.
"The city itself is not big, so there is no need to drive. Usually only births and deaths will cause people to drive to the coast to board a ship or plane to leave."
“Is there no hospital on the island?”
"Yes, but everyone still tries to go to other places as much as possible. On the one hand, the local medical conditions are poor, and on the other hand, it is to protect the environment."
【？ ？ ？】
What does this have to do with protecting the environment?
The audience found it a little difficult to understand.
"I can see that you didn't read the ban carefully just now. It also says that burial is not allowed."
"Svalbard is the only place in the world where birth and death are prohibited."
The audience was in an uproar.
What's the reason for this?
Bifang explained: "This is actually for safety reasons, because this place is extremely cold all year round, and the ground is mostly permafrost, which makes it easy for the virus produced by the corpses to be frozen and preserved. Once the permafrost melts, the virus will begin to spread, which will bring unimaginable disasters."
" There is only one small cemetery in the entire city of Longyearbyen, and this cemetery stopped accepting new bodies 70 years ago."
"Because the local medical conditions are poor, pregnant women who are about to give birth and people with serious illnesses will be taken away from here and go to other cities in Norway to give birth or be buried. So, unless you die suddenly, you have no right to die here."
"Of course, there are no explicit regulations prohibiting birth and death. Everything we do is to protect this pure land as much as possible."
In Svalbard, everyone is a guest.
In addition to polar bears, you can also see whales, Arctic foxes, walruses, Arctic reindeer and other animals on the shore.
Snow creatures that are rarely seen in normal times can be seen everywhere here.
The crowd even saw a polar bear eating.
But these are not the real purpose of Bifang's trip.
As a survival expert, Bifang has been curious about a place on the Svalbard Islands for a long time, and there is no way he would miss it this time.
Doomsday granary.
Also called the Global Doomsday Seed Vault.
The strong doomsday atmosphere made many viewers feel ridiculous. It was the first time they heard of such a place.
What does it do?
"This doomsday granary is built deep underground in Svalbard and is the last line of defense to ensure global food security."
"This seed bank can store 2.25 billion seeds for up to a thousand years. It is designed to protect crop diversity and respond to disasters such as asteroid impacts and nuclear wars. The Norwegians also gave it a resounding name - the Doomsday Dome."
"At present, there are about 100 million seeds of crops stored in cellars at minus 18 degrees Celsius around the world."
[Hiss, why do I feel a little nervous? ]
[Stop talking. I'm already getting nervous.]
[Why is it that everyone is preparing for the end of the world behind my back, but I am the only one living a life of drunkenness and despair? ]
[I'm already watching Fangshen's videos to learn how to survive]
[Fang Shen! Save me! ]
[Hold your thighs tight]
[Wait, can we just go to a place like this? ]
"Of course not." Bifang reached into the pocket of his jacket and fumbled around, as if searching for something. "This doomsday library has had a weak presence since it was built, because there are almost no news reports about it."
"The only time there was a photo shoot inside was in September and October 2008, when French photographer Caroline Pollan filmed the entire process of transporting plant seeds from a farm in India to the seed bank. There has been no more since then."
"Luckily, I got the pass."
Bifang finally took his hand out of his pocket, and found a stamped document and a magnetic card.
When the document was unfolded, there were only a few simple sentences on it, but the seal on it clearly had a very high authorization effect.
This was what Bifang requested from the Norwegian government two days in advance.
The Norwegian side agreed very readily and mailed the relevant documents directly.
"Let's go, I'll take you to see the modern version of Noah's Ark!"
