Chapter 635: I would feel uneasy if the caliber was smaller.
Walking inside the huge seed vault, everything is full of science fiction.
It was as if I had walked into a huge spaceship . The sounds all around were terribly monotonous, with only the sound of the cooling machine's motor running.
Being away from places where humans gather means being away from unstable factors such as the vortex of war.
Due to its remote geographical location and harsh climate, it is the home of polar bears. These unfavorable factors for human habitation can keep the "seed bank" away from various external threats.
Permafrost areas are very suitable for long-term storage of seeds, regardless of temperature changes. The air in the cellar can be replaced once a winter, but if this is not possible for some reason, the permafrost will keep the seeds fresh and safe for decades.
Finally, there is stable geology. The possibility of earthquakes here is zero. The seed bank is located more than 130 meters above sea level. Even if the Greenland ice sheet melts, or the Antarctic ice sheet completely melts and the sea level rises by 61 meters, it will be safe.
In addition, Longyearbyen has excellent docks and airports, which makes it convenient for countries to transport seeds here.
There is no better place on earth to build Noah's Ark.
"The construction of the seed bank began in March 2007 and was officially completed on February 26, 2008. At the completion ceremony, nearly 150 people from 33 countries, including European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, attended the ceremony."
" That was the time when the number of visitors was the highest. After that, almost no one could come in."
"The Global Crop Diversity Trust will provide technical advice, seed delivery and management."
"According to the safety design model of the U.S. national gold reserve, a seed vault was built at the end of the tunnel, and a 1-meter-thick concrete slab was built around the tunnel and seed vault. Outside the tunnel is a sealed door that can withstand the explosion of several tons of explosives and two airlocks. The overall strength can withstand earthquakes, nuclear weapons, and even asteroid impacts."
Even if someone really wanted to deliberately sabotage the seed bank, it would not be easy.
There are still no commercial flights to the island where the seed vault is located.
Even Bifang himself had to take a boat to get here.
"Polar bears often appear in the area where the seed bank is located. They can be said to be the natural 'security guards' of the seed bank, because all outsiders who enter their territory are regarded as 'undesirables' by polar bears."
"Local people rarely come here on their own initiative because it is really dangerous. In fact, if Mr. Fang hadn't come here today, we would have planned to drive over to pick you up."
There was some helplessness in Barritt's words. According to Bifang's flight, they had just arrived today, but they ended up rushing here non-stop using the entire day, which did not leave them much time to prepare.
"Haha." Bifang scratched his head, "No wonder I saw so many polar bears on the hillside when I came here."
Barritt has a lot of complaints to share.
Even the builders of the seed bank had to use both kindness and force on the polar bears, feeding them and guarding them with guns, in order to live in peace with them temporarily.
Apart from Bifang, who else in the world would dare to run around alone in the wilds of Svalbard?
Polar bears can be seen on almost every hillside, and if you are not careful you can end up being killed by one.
[666, seeing Lao Fang running over here alone, I thought he was going to come over here this way. I thought it was quite dangerous...]
[Plus one...]
[It turns out that I thought too much. Lao Fang's way of traveling is not normal.]
At the end, Barritt also showed everyone the new seeds he had brought in this year.
The seeds are contained in a sealed glass tube and look very ordinary.
"In February this year, there were volcanoes, floods, and locust plagues. The seed bank was restocked with 60,000 seed samples, which can be regarded as accelerating the stockpiling of samples."
"very beautiful."
Bifang praised that inside the transparent resin tube, the seeds were carefully selected and densely packed together, and each one was almost exactly the same in size and shape, which had a unique beauty.
"While the monetary value of these boxes is small, they may hold the key to global food security and the balance of biodiversity."
After solemnly placing the seeds back into the storage box, Barritt took Bifang away from the warehouse. The audience even seemed a little reluctant to see them go.
Before I knew it, I had been here for nearly three hours.
Returning along the original route, passing through the long corridor, Barrett closed the doors one by one and returned to the original small room.
Barrett carefully opened the outermost iron door and looked through the crack for a long time. After confirming that there were no polar bears outside and the environment was safe, he brought Bifang out.
Barritt's job is to act as a tour guide. The entire seed vault does not need to be guarded, so they can leave together.
Walking outside the dome, the sky above your head is dotted with stars.
As soon as the audience's eyes moved upwards, they couldn't move away.
[Wow, how can the starry sky be so beautiful? ]
Traveling all over the country with Bifang, the audience in the live broadcast room has seen all kinds of starry sky. The clearest one should be the one in the desert.
But even that time was far from comparable to the starry sky at this moment.
Under the black curtain, there are densely packed stars.
Clear.
It is clearly a dark night, but it reminds people of the word clarity.
You can even see the general situation around you without a flashlight.
"It's a pity that there are no aurora tonight." Bifang sighed, "Aurora is very common in Svalbard. This is also the only place on Earth where the northern lights can appear during the day."
"At this time, tourists from all over the world come here to enjoy the gorgeous northern lights. From early spring to autumn, Svalbard will have 99-141 days of polar day, and the wonder of daytime sunshine will be presented at this time. Unfortunately, we have no chance to see it."
Bifang felt a little regretful, and followed Barrett on the snow to the off-road vehicle parked on the other side of the seed bank.
No wonder I didn’t see it when I came.
Bifang suddenly realized that the SUV was parked on the other side from where he came, blocked by the wedge-shaped seed bank exposed outside the mountain.
I got into the car and turned on the heater, and it suddenly felt much warmer.
The temperature outside the car was minus eight degrees Celsius at this time.
While waiting for the engine to warm up, Bifang also spotted the gun holster under the back seat.
Barritt noticed Bifang's gaze, picked up the holster, took it apart, and revealed the full picture.
"CR308, caliber 7.62×51mm, an AR rifle developed by Germany's Heinkel Defence Company." Bifang recognized the model of the gun at a glance.
"That's right." Barritt was surprised at Bifang's expertise, but when he thought about his identity, he felt it was not surprising. "This rifle fires medium-caliber full-power ammunition. It can be lethal enough when attacked by a polar bear. A 20-round magazine is enough to take down one."
"Your country's scientific research stations are basically equipped with this kind of gun. A three-meter-long polar bear. I think any smaller caliber is unreliable. In fact, I'm not even sure if one magazine is enough."
Barritt had obviously dealt with polar bears before, but he had no clear understanding of the power of guns or the polar bears' defenses.
These days, there are only a handful of people who have shot a polar bear.
"It's not that exaggerated actually." Bifang smiled.
China has many photos of the early establishment of the Great Wall Station, including many exterior shots of foreign armed guards, who were holding Winchester lever-action rifles and round-nosed bullets.
The polar bear is strong, but after twenty medium-caliber full-power rounds were fired at it, it would not only fall down, but also become a sieve.
