DAY 6 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 13 – LOOSE DAY THEN TO TRAPPERS LODGE
Up at 8:30 so we have time to pack. We are supposed to be out by 11 but they said we could wait until 12. My phone didn't charge so having to wait for that then we’ll go sit in the dining room or walk around town a bit. Not much to do today except wait for the evening. As my watch is now broke, hard to tell what time it is at any point. The index for lights last night was down. There are services that predict when you might see the Northern Lights and have some kind of index number to tell if it will be a good time to see lights or not. There are even apps for phones that show the Northern Light activity. Pretty cool. We went out on the front porch several times but didn’t see anything. A rowdy group of 4 were going to get a taxi and go somewhere the viewing might be better but don’t think they would see anything
. Hopefully we will see some tonight or tomorrow.
When it came time for lunch, or maybe a bit before, we went out and walked around. Just walking gingerly. We now have the reflective light bands on one side of our jacket and when we were out walking yesterday, a man pulled up in a car and gave us reflective bands to put around our arms. They just unroll and snap on so kind of hard to keep mine on all the time and it flips off but a really good thing and I don’t want to lose it. Can see that these are needed and so many tourists are walking around without reflective lights but the kids all wear hi vis jackets or these light bands and many of the adults do as well.
Finally went to the mall again for another hot dog. It was really good yesterday but not quite as good today so think we are done with the hot dogs. I looked for another T shirt but guess I don’t really need one so maybe I’ll pass.
Walked around a bit more in the dark and tried to take a few photos and look for reindeer but not really much to do so back to the hotel where we read for a while until it was time to put on our boots and wait for the maxi taxi. There have been a lot of people coming and checking into the hotel and most of them are coming for the weekend only. A lot of people come on SAS with their miles and pay almost nothing to get here. As such, they forgot to keep our room open so when we come back, we will be upstairs. Bummer
Our maxi taxi comes and we are the only ones in it until he goes around to Svalbard hotel and picks up 5 more people
. We drive out of town and stop to get a photo of the polar bear sign. It is getting quite windy. Then we drive out to mine #7 which is where we were for the dog sledding. He can’t go up quite that high as it is starting to snow on the roads so he turns and we stop above the Basecamp dogyard and take photos of the dogs. Then we head through town where he explains a bunch of things like no buildings are set on the ground. They are all built up from the permafrost because if they sat on the permafrost, it would melt it and then the building would sink a bit. We think he told us the permafrost is 300 meters or feet deep so buildings drill into it for a base and then are built on piles. The town is run by coal and has hot water and electrical pipes all on top of the ground as well as the waste water pipes. We asked our overnight guide about the waste and she says everything is sorted carefully and things that can be burned are burned here but recyclables are taken back to the mainland and glass is smashed and put in a pit somewhere here and garbage goes through waste disposals and out with the waste water.
Our maxi taxi guide then takes us to the other side of town and up by the seed vault which is quite interesting. It has millions of seeds from many, many countries, nothing genetically modified but good natural seed stock so in case of apocalypse, people will have something to start using again to grow food
. Nothing animal in there. Apparently many countries have their own seed vaults but this one is global. See my blog from yesterday for Wikipedia information on the seed vault.
There was a seed vault also in Syria but since their war, it was emptied. Also since their war, Syria took their seed stock out of this bank and moved it to several different places. The temperature inside is kept at -18. The door is a light mosaic which looked rather lovely in the dark but couldn’t get a photo. People are not allowed in as tourists or anything but our overnight guide at the Trapper’s Lodge was lucky enough to get in once and saw that North Korea’s boxes were their lovely handcrafted red decorated boxes and the USA boxes were cardboard.
When we were close, my husband saw some northern lights out the window so we stopped and got out and took some photos. They came out ok without a tripod but still not optimal.
Hopefully we will go back up that way to do the mine tour on Sunday. Our maxi taxi also took us past the administration building and police station. There are 7 policemen and they investigate any polar bear shootings and such. This is the only place where polar bears are completely protected. There are about 3 shootings a year or less and each one is investigated and can only be in self-defense of a person, not property or dogs. And you have to try and discourage the bear and make it leave. Two incidents were when a bear broke out the window of a house and was coming inside. The people threw a large chair at it and still didn’t discourage it so the man shot it
. The police ruled in his favor. Another was a couple of photographers and snow mobilers way out in the wilderness and kept trying to discourage the bear from coming and finally shot it at 18’ away. So also ruled in their favor.
The maxi taxi also went by the northern most church so we will try and visit it. The cultural center does have movies but also concerts and many other things. Not sure a song concert or movie would be good unless it is in English and that isn’t likely.
Got back from our maxi taxi and just sat and waited for our pick up for the trappers night. We were waiting when she told us it was ready and there were 6 others going just for dinner. We packed into the taxi, driven by a Malaysian, and he drove us out to Basecamp dogyard. We all hoped out and the others will go back to town at 10. It is snowing and spitting now and the wind is picking up. Our guide asked if we wanted to put our stuff in our cabin so we were walking on the ice with a small layer of snow over it and I slipped and went down on my ass and knocked my head against the ice. Now I have a big knot on the back of my head and a headache. Also think I twisted my knee a bit. Sure did hurt.
We gingerly walk to the cabin then and put our stuff in it. There is no power but candles and a stove which she fires up to warm the cabin. It burns wood which is imported on pallets because there are no trees on Svalbard at all. (and yet there are many fossils of tropical plants and animals in the permafrost and the coal and rocks)
Back to the main cabin near the dog yard and the toilet is in a small building next to that cabin which means middle of the night, we are going to have to walk back here. We pass some hanging seals. The trappers would build these very tall tower-like structures to hang their catch. Since a full grown polar bear can stand 9 or 10’ tall, they would have to be much higher. And polar bears are smart and used to work on finding ways to catch the seals or bring down the hanging things to get at the catches. Apparently there are tales of polar bears inching up the towers between two poles in order to reach the hanging seals. The seals hanging here are about 3 years old so no bears are interested in them. The dogs also have a special bark for the bears which is low and loud so we will be listening for that all night.
Into the cabin for dinner. This is catered by Huset which is the best rated restaurant here and we had reindeer stew and mashed potatoes with some berries to put on it and sour cream plus pickled cucumbers
. It was delicious. There was also homemade bread and we each had 2 units of alcohol free. Hubby had a beer and some local cognac which isn’t really local and I had red wine. Apparently Huset also has a huge wine cellar and also sends wine all over the place. Think we might want to eat there again which will be expensive I’m sure. The other guests were all Norwegian but they graciously all spoke English for the evening which was quite nice of them.
Our guide, Runa, has lots of stories of the dogs and bears and such. We enjoyed listening to her and I’ve already related a few of the stories. Will try and relate more as I remember them. Our maxi taxi man also said that sometimes he finds people out during polar dark who have had too much to drink so he picks them up and takes them home then goes back the next day to get paid. Anyone falling or passing out at night during Polar Night will probably be very "Polar Dead" the next day.
After dinner, we went into the dogyard to meet the dogs. Girls on one side and boys on the other. Plus there were some puppies at the back. For some reason, it seems like they kill a lot of puppies because they just have too many dogs or they have no plans for them and are trying to get a breeding program going and if the dogs haven’t been the right mix then they put them down
. Don’t think I could do that. Plus people who leave, give their dogs away and such so there usually aren’t a lot of pups I guess. These were so cute.
We walked around most of the yard and met most of the dogs. The males could knock me over when they jumped up on me to greet me but they are all so friendly. Many were in their boxes and didn’t want to come out but would if you stood out there and called them because they like a cuddle. Yet we also heard that many of the dogs will sleep out in the snow and be totally covered up by snow because it provides an insulation for them. We have heard that often the keepers come in the morning and there are only mounds of snow in the yard until they call the dogs then the dogs bound out of the snow to greet them.
Back inside for our dessert and coffee or tea if we want it. The dogs start a “midnight howl” like in 101 Dalmatians. One dog yard starts and the other dog yards take it up until howls are echoing across the valley. Better than deep gruff barking trying to make themselves appear bigger to a polar bear.
Runa, our hostess told us tales of people around
. There are officially 2 trappers in the country at the moment. One is either 79 or 80 and has been trapping for 40 years so he has the record. Obviously a bit of a man with a love of self and loathe of town and civilization. She said when his extended family came last year for his birthday, including helicoptering out to where he lives, he was glad to see them but after an hour told them he was done and time for them to leave. Likewise when a couple of kayakers stopped and asked if they could camp there, he said sure except he didn’t want to see them so they had to go on.
There are a lot of cruise ships stopping in the summer so the town is building three new hotels. Also, things like wood for stoves and fireplaces has to be shipped into the country on pallets because there are no trees on Svalbard anymore. But there used to be trees. The town is named after John Munro Longyear, an American who came and opened up the first mine but later sold it to the Norwegian company that still mines #7. If they shut down #7, they will have to build up the tourism even more.
Here we go with Wikipedia again with some more history of Longyearbyen and such:
“””””””Longyearbyen (lit
. Longyear City) is the largest settlement and the administrative center of Svalbard, Norway. As of 2008, the town had a population of 2,040. Longyearbyen is located in the valley of Longyeardalen and on the shore of Adventfjorden, a bay of Isfjorden located on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Since 2002, Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. The town is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. It is the world's northernmost settlement of any kind with greater than 1,000 permanent residents.
Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after John Munro Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal mining operations in 1906. Operations were taken over by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) in 1916, which still conducts mining. The town was almost completely destroyed by the German Kriegsmarine on 8 August 1943, but was rebuilt after the Second World War. Traditionally, Longyearbyen was a company town, but most mining operations have moved to Sveagruva since the 1990s, while the town has seen a large increase in tourism and research. This has seen the arrival of institutions such as the University Centre in Svalbard, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Svalbard Satellite Station. The community is served by Svalbard Airport, Longyear and Svalbard Church
.
Longyear City in 1908
Summer 1925 at Longyearbyen.
In 1896, Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab started tours to Hotellneset. To accommodate tourists, they built a prefabricated hotel, but it was not profitable and was closed after the 1897 season. However, two families overwintered in 1898–99[1] and Norway Post operated a post office at Hotellneset from 1897 to 1899.[2] The first commercially viable coal on Svalbard was harvested by Søren Zakariassen in 1899.[3] In 1901, Bergen-Spitsbergen Kullgrube-kompani started mining coal in Adventtoppen.[4]
The American industrialist John Munroe Longyear visited Spitsbergen as a tourist in 1901, where he met with an expedition prospecting for coal. He returned to Spitsbergen 1903, where he met Henrik B. Næss in Adventfjorden, who gave him samples and information on coal fields. Along with his associate Frederick Ayer, Longyear bought the Norwegian claims on the west side of Adventfjorden, and expanded the claims significantly the following year. In 1906, the Boston-based Arctic Coal Company, with Ayer and Longyear as the main shareholders, started mining in Mine 1a, after having built docks and housing.[5] The company had American administration, but mostly Norwegian laborers, and named the town Longyear City.[4] Coal was transported the 1.2 kilometers (0.75 mi) from the mine to the port using an aerial tramway.[6] In 1913, the company started preliminary work to open Mine 2a.[7]
Mine 2b was mined from 1938 to 1969 and today it is a heritage site
Following financial difficulties during the First World War,[4] the mining operations were bought by Store Norske, which was incorporated in Oslo on 30 November 1916.[8] That year, SNSK built five new barracks, including one that was made into a hospital.[9] SNSK introduced its own money with approval from Norges Bank, consisting entirely of banknotes at par with Norwegian krone.[10] The American community buried their dead at Hotellneset. In 1918, eleven people were killed by the Spanish flu and a graveyard was established in Longyear City.[11] Two years later, 26 men were killed in a coal dust explosion in Mine 1. This resulted in the mine being closed[4] and electric operation being taken into use in Mine 2.[7] The same year, the first truck was delivered for use in the mining operations.[12]
The Church of Norway appointed Thorleif Østenstad as Svalbard's first vicar and teacher in 1920.[13] A school was established as a cooperation between the church and SNSK and had an inaugural eight pupils.[14] The first Svalbard Church opened on 28 August 1921,[13] and the church's reading room was from then used as a school.[14] Longyear City was renamed Longyearbyen in 1926.[15]
The Norwegian Telecommunications Administration established a coast radio station, Svalbard Radio, at Finneset in 1911, which was moved to Longyearbyen in 1930.[16] The town's tourist industry started in 1935, when SS Lyngen started calling regularly during the summer season.[17] In 1937, SNSK established Sverdrupbyen to house workers for Mine 1b and operation of the mine started in 1939.[18] In 1938, Longyearbyen's first road was completed, between the town center and Sverdrupbyen.[19] Operations at Mine 2b, a different entrance to Mine 2a, started in 1939.[7]
The old power station, one of a handful buildings which survived the Second World War, and the cable center
Svalbard remained unaffected by the German occupation of Norway in 1940. However, from 1941 the achipelago became of strategic importance in the supply chain between the Allied powers, as well as a source of badly needed coal. The Norwegian government-in-exile rejected a Soviet–British occupation;[20] instead the British Army started Operation Gauntlet to evacuate Spitsbergen. On 29 August 1941, the entire population of Ny-Ålesund was evacuated to Longyearbyen, and on 3 September 765 people were evacuated from Longyearbyen to Scotland. Later the last 150 men were also evacuated.[21] With Longyearbyen depopulated, a small German garrison and air strip was established in Adventdalen, mostly to provide meteorological data. After the British Operation Fritham regained control of Barentsburg, the German forces left Longyearbyen without combat.[22]
In September 1943, the Kriegsmarine dispatched two battleships, Tirpitz and Scharnhorst, and nine destroyers to bombard Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Grumant.[22] Only four buildings in Longyearben survived: the hospital, the power station, an office building and a residential building, in addition to Sverdrupbyen. Longyearbyen remained unsettled until the end of the war, with the first ship from the mainland leaving on 27 June 1945.[23]
Post-World War II[edit]
Plans were laid during the war to ensure a quick reconstruction and commencing of mining. By 1948, coal production reached the pre-war level of 480,000 tonnes (470,000 long tons; 530,000 short tons) per year.[24] Nybyen was established in 1946 and consisted of five barracks, each housing 72 people.[25] The first issue of Svalbardposten was published in November 1948. Until then, there had irregularly been published various wall newspapers.[26] In 1949, Longyearbyen received telephone service with the mainland via a radio connection between Svalbard Radio and Harstad.[16] In 1949, a farm was built in Longyearbyen to hold cattle for milk, pigs and hens.[27] A local radio station started broadcasting in 1950.[28] The burial ground remained in use until 1950, seeing 44 people buried.[29] However, it was discovered that the bodies were failing to decompose because of the permafrost. Bodies have since been sent to the mainland for burial.[30] The community center Huset opened in 1951.[31]
Mining in Mine 1b was terminated in 1958,[7] but operation in Mine 5 started the following year. Preliminary work on Mine 4 started in 1954, and from 1960 it was used as a reserve mine.[32] The Norwegian Air Force started serving Longyearbyen with postal flights in the 1950s. In 1959, a man fell seriously ill, so a landing strip was prepared in Adventdalen. From the same year, Braathens SAFE started serving the tundra airport with irregular winter flights.[33] In 1957, a principal was hired at the primary school and a new church was opened on 24 August 1958.[13] From 1961, the primary school was supplemented by a private middle school.[14] A branch of Tromsø Sparebank opened in 1959.[34]
In the 1960s, the town's farm was closed and replaced by industrial liquifying of powdered milk.[35] The first serial-produced snowmobile was taken into use in 1961. By 1969, there were 140 registered snowmobiles and only 33 registered cars.[12] From 1962 to 1984, a recreational center was run at Sverdrupbyen.[18] Ordinary operation in Mine 4 started in 1966 but was terminated by 1970,[32] two years after Mine 2b closed.[7] Operations in Mine 6 commenced in 1969.[32] Television broadcasting equipment was installed in 1969, with the schedule of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation being aired with a two-week delay.[28]
In 1971, a new school building, with a combined primary and lower secondary school, was opened, along with a new gymnasium and a 12.5-meter (41 ft) swimming pool.[14] The Svalbard Council was established on 1 November 1971. It consisted of 17 non-partisan members which were elected or appointed in three different groups—SNSK employees, government employees and others, although the ratio changed several times.[36] Operations of Mine 3 started in March 1971[7] and operations in Mine 7 commenced the following year.[32] In 1973, the Ministry of Trade and Industry bought a third of SNSK. It continued buying additional shares until reaching a 99.94 percent ownership in 1976.[37] The airport was opened in 1975 and initially provided four weekly services to mainland Norway and semi-weekly services to Russia.[38] In 1978, the community received satellite communications with the mainland.[28] The same year, an upper secondary program was introduced at the public school.[14] From 1984, television programs were broadcast live via satellite.[28]
The University Centre in Svalbard
Store Norske underwent a gradual change during the 1980s. Since 1980, Spitsbergen money has been taken out of circulation and replaced with ordinary Norwegian currency.[10] Mine 6 closed the following year.[32] From 1982, SNSK permitted private individuals to own and operate cars. By 1990, there were 353 registered cars and 883 snowscooters.[39] On 1 July 1983, SNSK moved its head office from Bergen to Longyearbyen.[8] Svalbard Samfunnsdrift (SSD), a limited company which was responsible for public infrastructure and services, was established by SNSK on 1 January 1989. Responsibilities included healthcare, the fire department, the kindergarten, roads, garbage disposal, power production, the water and sewer system, the cinema, cultural actives and the library. Ownership was taken over by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on 1 January 1993.[40]
During the 1990s, the authorities started a process to "normalize" Longyearbyen by abolishing the company town scheme and introducing a full range of services, a varied economy and local democracy.[41] Commercial enterprises included a shopping mall replacing SNSK's provision store in 1992.[42] Similarly, Esso opened a commercial fuel station in 1994.[39] The Svalbard Council changed its regulations from 1993 and allowed parties to run for election.[43] In a step to increase tourism, Svalbard Polar Hotel opened in 1995,[44] and a year later mining of Mine 3 terminated.[7] Longyearbyen Community Council was established in 2002, replacing the Svalbard Council and assimilating SSD, and took on many of the responsibilities and the structure of a municipality.[37]
This period also saw the rise of a number of scientific establishments. The Agricultural University of Norway had established a primitive seed bank in 1984.[45] The University Centre in Svalbard opened on 6 September 1993 and had 30 students in its inaugural semester.[46] Telenor Mobil established GSM coverage in 1995,[47] and in 2004 the Svalbard Undersea Cable System opened, providing fiber optic cable connection to the mainland.[48] The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) opened a radar in 1996,[49] followed by Svalbard Satellite Station in 1999[50] and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in 2008.[51]
Geography[edit]
View of the central parts of Longyearbyen from Platåberget. The body of water is Adventfjorden while the valley up to the right is Adventdalen.
Longyearbyen, the largest settlement in Svalbard, is located in the lower portion of the valley of Longyeardalen, along the river of Longyearelva. The lower parts of the town lie along the southwestern shore of the bay of Adventfjorden, a 7 by 4 kilometers (4.3 by 2.5 mi) branch of Isfjorden.[52] Longyearbyen is on the Nordenskiöld Land peninsula of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago.[5] It is the world's northern-most town, with all settlements further north being research or meteorological outposts.[53] Across the bay lie the ghost towns of Advent City[54] and Hiorthhamn.[52]
Longyearbyen is divided into several neighborhoods. On the west side of the river, along the bay, lies the port and affiliated utility and industrial services. The western part of this area is called Bykaia and the eastern part Sjøområdet. Above lies Skjæringa, the site of the Governor's offices. Slightly up the valley on the west side lies Gamle Longyearbyen ("Old Longyearbyen") and the church. Even further up lies the graveyard, then Huset and the cinema, and finally Sverdrupbyen. Most of the residential, commercial and cultural institutions are located on the east side of the river. Along the bay the area is called Sjøskrenten. Further up lies the university center and Gruvedalen, the largest residential area. Southwards from there is the main shopping area as well as the town hall. To the east is the residential area Lia and further up Haugen, which is also the location of the school. Furthest up in the valley is Mine 2b and Nybyen, which is mostly used as student housing. Westwards out of town towards Hotellneset is the airport and Mine 3. The remaining mines are located in Adventdalen, to the east of town.[55]
Climate[edit]
Svalbard's climate is a combination of an Arctic climate (Köppen: ET) tempered by the North Atlantic Current. Nordenskiöld Land is the warmest and wettest part of the archipelago, caused by the convergence of mild and humid air from the south and cold air from the north. Average summer highs are typically 3 to 7 °C (37 to 45 °F) while average winter highs are −11 to −13 °C (12 to 9 °F).[56] Longyearbyen experiences midnight sun from 19 April through 23 August, polar night from 27 October through 14 February and civil polar night from 14 November through 29 January. However, due to shading from mountains, the sun is not visible in Longyearbyen until around 8 March.[57] Snow typically covers the town from November through March. The warmest temperature ever record in Longyearbyen was 21.3 °C (70.3 °F) in July 1979 and the coldest was −46.3 °C (−51.3 °F) in March 1986.
As of 2008, Longyearbyen had a population of 2,040 people.[61] The largest regional group of Norwegians are from Northern Norway, particularly Nordland and Troms, which make more than 40 percent of the population.[62] Roughly 300 people (16 percent) are non-Norwegian citizens, with the largest nationalities being from Thailand, Sweden, Russia and Ukraine.[61] Because of the dominance of the mining industry, the gender distribution is skewed with 60 percent of adults being males. Longyearbyen has an over-average share of its population between 25 and 44 years old, but nearly no residents over 66. The number of children in relation to the population is at the national average, but Longyearbyen has significantly fewer teenagers than the national average.[62]
Longyearbyen experiences a very high turnover; in 2008, 427 people (23 percent) moved away from the town.[61] The average person lived in Longyearbyen for 6.3 years, although it is 6.6 years for Norwegians and 4.3 years for foreigners. In 2009, about a quarter of the population had lived in the town since before 2000, and can thus be regarded as permanent population. The longest residing people tend to work in the mining industry, followed by local government employees. The shortest tenures are held by students and employees in higher education, tourism and the state.[62]
Seventy percent of households consist of a single person, compared to forty-one percent on the mainland, giving an average 1.6 people per household. The difference is largely caused by individuals working on Svalbard while their family remains on the mainland. Longyearbyen's population is more highly educated than the national average: 54 compared to 43 percent have upper secondary education and 30 compared to 26 percent have tertiary education. Among women, 40 percent have higher education.[62]
Politics and government[edit]
Longyearbyen Community Council has many of the same responsibilities of a municipality.[37] It is organized with a 15-member council which since 2011 has been led by Mayor Christin Kristoffersen of the Labour Party.[63] The council's main responsibilities are infrastructure and utilities, including power, land-use and community planning, education from kindergarten to upper secondary level and child welfare. It operates three kindergartens in addition to the 13-grade Longyearbyen School.[64]
No care or nursing services and welfare payments are available. Norwegian residents retain pension and medical rights through their mainland municipalities.[65] The University Hospital of North Norway operates a clinic, Longyearbyen Hospital.[37] Other public offices with presence on Longyearbyen are the Norwegian Directorate of Mining, the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Norwegian Tax Administration and the Church of Norway.[66] Longyearbyen is subordinate Nord-Troms District Court and Hålogaland Court of Appeal, both located in Tromsø.[67]
The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 established full Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago. The treaty came into effect in 1925, following the Svalbard Act which established the institution of the Governor of Svalbard. He holds the responsibility as both county governor and chief of police, as well as holding other authority granted from the executive branch. Duties include environmental policy, family law, law enforcement, search and rescue, tourism management, information services, contact with foreign settlements, and judge in some areas of maritime inquiries and judicial examinations—albeit never in the same cases as acting as police.[66][68] Odd Olsen Ingerø has been governor since 2009;[69] he is assisted by a staff of 26 professionals. The institution is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and the Police, but reports to other ministries in matters within their portfolio.[70]
Upper part of Longyeardalen, with the buildings of Sverdrupbyen to the left, Huset to the right and an aerial tramway in the background
Because of the special treaty status of Svalbard, Longyearbyen is subject to Norwegian legislation, but citizens of any signatory country may conduct commercial activities and live in town.[71] However, people without a source of income can be rejected by the governor.[72] The treaty limits Norway's right to collect taxes to that of financing services on Svalbard. Therefore, Longyearbyen has a lower income tax than mainland Norway, and there is no value added tax. The treaty has resulted in Longyearbyen being a demilitarized zone[71] and is not part of the European Economic Area nor the Schengen Area like the rest of Norway.[73]
Culture[edit]
The community council runs a number of cultural activities, such as a cinema, a youth club, a library and a gallery.[74] The town's sports club is Svalbard Turn.[75] Svalbardhallen is an indoor sport center which includes a multi-sport hall large enough for handball or three badminton courts, a shooting range and a 25-meter (82 ft) swimming pool.[42] Svalbard Church of the Church of Norway has the entire archipelago as its parish. The congregational hall is 126 m2 (1,360 sq ft) while the sitting room is 112 m2 (1,210 sq ft). The church is built in half-timber.[13] Svalbardposten is a weekly newspaper published on Friday. Printing takes place in Tromsø and the majority of subscribers live on the mainland. Icepeople, an alternative newspaper in English, is also published weekly.[26] There are two museums in town, Svalbard Museum[76] and the Spitsbergen Airship Museum.[77] Dark Season Blues has been held annually in October since 2003.[78] 20 residents of the town are members of the Liverbirds Svalbard and regularly meet in the Svalbar on match days during the winter months.
Economy[edit]
The only mining still taking place in Longyearbyen is at Mine 7, located 15 kilometers (9 mi) up Adventdalen. It produces 70,000 tonnes (69,000 long tons; 77,000 short tons) of coal annually, of which 25,000 tonnes (25,000 long tons; 28,000 short tons) is used to fuel Longyear Power Station, Norway's only coal-fueled power station.[79] Most of Store Norske's production is done at Sveagruva, located on Van Mijenfjorden, 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of Longyearbyen. No roads connect the communities;[80] instead, workers live in dormitories in Svea.[81] Seventy percent commute home to the mainland while thirty percent commute to Longyearbyen. Mining has not been profitable and Store Norske relies on state subsidies to retain production.[82]
The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) has 350 students and a permanent faculty of 40 professors and assistants and 120 guest lecturers. UNIS does not offer degrees, but instead offers semester courses in biology, physics and geology. Student housing is located at Nybyen. The college is part of the 12,000 m2 (130,000 sq ft) Svalbard Science Centre, which also features the Norwegian Polar Institute, EISCAT and Svalbard Science Forum.[83] In 2006, about 9,000 research days were spent in Longyearbyen, most of which were by Norwegians. This made Longyearbyen the second-largest research outpost on Svalbard, marginally below Ny-Ålesund. In contrast, Longyearbyen has almost only Norwegian research, while Ny-Ålesund is roughly evenly split between Norwegian and foreign.[84]
The EISCAT radar
Svalbard Satellite Station was built because of Longyearbyen's excellent location to download data from satellites in polar orbit. Located at Platåberget above Hotellneset, it was built as a cooperation between NASA and the Norwegian Space Centre, but has since 2001 been operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services.[85] EISCAT operates an incoherent scatter radar to study the northern lights.[49] The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, administered by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is a secure underground facility capable of storing millions of crop seeds. The facility has been designed to protect against natural and human disasters, including global warming, floods and fires, and nuclear holocaust. The site was chosen for a number of factors including its remoteness, sound geology and the ambient temperature of the permafrost.[86]
Longyearbyen is the center of tourism on the archipelago, although most tourism is generated based on natural experiences rather than visiting the town itself. However, Longyearbyen does provide supplies, accommodation and several museums. In 2008, Longyearbyen experienced 89,000 guest-nights, up from 30,000 in 1995. The average guest stayed 2.2 nights and 60 percent of the capacity was used by tourists. About 40,000 tourists flew into Longyearbyen. Two-thirds of the tourists come from Norway. In 2007, the tourism industry had a revenue of NOK 291 million and produced 200 man-years.[87]
Transport[edit]
Until 1987, a series of aerial tramways were used to haul coal from the mines to the port
Longyearbyen has a road network stretching 50 kilometers (30 mi),[88] but the network does not extend to any other communities.[89] In 2008 there were 1,481 registered road vehicles and 49 percent of all households had a car.[88] Cars are registered with ZN on the license plates.[39] There is a single workshop, Svalbard Auto, which is also a Toyota dealer.[90]
Snowmobiles are a popular mode of transport and there are more snowmobiles than residents. In 2008 there were registered 2,672 snowmobiles and 69 percent of households owned at least one.[88] Off-road motorized transport is prohibited on bare ground, but snowmobiles are used extensively during winter—both for commercial and recreational activities. Transport from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg (45 km or 28 mi) and Pyramiden (100 km or 62 mi) is possible by snowmobile by winter, or by ship all year round.[89]
Svalbard Airport, Longyear is located at Hotellneset, 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) northwest of town. It has a 2,483-meter (8,146 ft) long runway and is the only airport which is permitted to serve aircraft from off the archipelago.[64][91] Scandinavian Airlines operates daily flights to Oslo and Tromsø,[92] while there are irregular flights to Russia. Lufttransport operates regular charter services to Svea Airport and Ny-Ålesund Airport, Hamnerabben. Arktikugol operates helicopters to Barentsburg and Pyramiden.[91] There are two quays in Longyearbyen, one for export of coal and one for general goods.[93] From 1907 to 1987, the mining companies operated a network of aerial tramways to transport coal from the mines to the port.[6] “”””””””
Anyway, the taxi came to take the others away and Runa went over to our trappers lodge and made the bed and made sure that the fire was burning. It had gone out so she used lighter fluid to get it started. Made it pretty hot in there actually. We went to the toilet and then over to the lodge and snugged in for the night. She was sleeping in the bigger cabin. A dog handler had been here already to feed the dogs. Normally, there is no one there at night.
Our fire went out sometime and of course that’s about when we had to get up and go to the toilet. Means put on the warm pants, the boots, and warm coat and gloves and hat and walk the 40 yards to the toilet. Sure was cold out and dark beyond the dog yard lights. The dogs were quiet but it was still a bit spooky.
When we came back, it was cold in the cabin and even though our duvets are keeping us plenty warm, we wanted a bit more heat. My husband tried to get a fire going but even with the lighter fluid, it wouldn’t catch so he was trying to chop small bits of wood off a larger log. Made me quite nervous that he was doing that with just a flashlight for light but he managed and got the fire going. Seemed like a recipe for disaster but he managed. Then we have to keep feet and arms out of the duvet until it cools down again.
Once more, we had to get up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night. Somehow the toilet shed had moved further away – a way long way away and it was darker, and colder, and spookier. I just said forget it and went around the cabin to pee there and my husband went the other way. Runa had suggested that we do this very thing. Very cold with the bare butt hanging out but very long way to the toilet.
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Friday, November 13, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
In The Dark
DAY 5 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12 IN THE DARK, NOT MUCH PLANNED
We had only planned on doing the museum today and maybe a bit of shopping so we did not set our alarm to get up, thinking that surely we would wake by around 8:30 or so. Surprisingly, my husband shown his flashlight down on me at 9:30 and that's when we got up. Again, without the visual cues of something showing a bit of light outside, we would have just kept on sleeping. So we jumped up and put on clothes and got to breakfast at 9:45. They stop serving at 10. At the moment there are just 3 of us in the hotel. This weekend it will be full which is why we have to vacate our room for one night.
After breakfast, we have time to kill before the museum opens at noon so we work on the computer catching up one day at a time and then about 12:15, we close up shop, rug up warm and head out
.
First stop is the shop where we bought our walking crampons. She is very gracious and gives us a free pair so now we have a spare. Unfortunately on other things, my warm hat has broken the plastic snap that makes it tight under my chin and my watch band has torn in two. I try and glue it back together but the super glue isn’t super enough and it doesn’t stay. Hate being without a watch.
We walk on down past the Radisson Blu hotel to the museum which is attached to a part of the university. We stand there to check our map and then see the museum sign and go in. There are lockers for your gloves and such, coat hangers with hangers that won’t come off the rack, and slippers so you can take off your boots. We do all that before we get to the desk. I see that it has a pensioners sign and ask for that price. It’s really just for Norwegians but she lets me have that price as well. Yea me. Saved some money.
The first exhibit was "Polar Night" which had a lot of posters with information on the life in the seas and on the land and what happens during the polar night. It was fascinating and how interesting that a lot of the sea creatures depend on the night to reproduce and to keep functioning and survive
. Plus places where the moon and the northern lights are the only illumination for almost 6 months of the year. So these animals/plants/whatever must have this little bit of light to survive and do so quite handily. It was a good exhibit.
The rest of the museum was quite good as well. A lot of information about the settlers, the treaty that made Svalbard into the Russian/Norwegian protectorates that it is now, the life of the miners, the hunters, the whalers, the families and such. It took us a couple of hours to do the museum and I read it all which normally I don’t like to do.
This is what I found in Wikipedia on the Svalbard Treaty. It doesn’t mention the Russian concession and mining town of Barentsburg in the north but from everything we were told, Russia was a part of the agreement and if either country – Norway or Russia – pulled out of the area and the mining, the other country would kind of have free reign to go in and take it over. Not sure how it all works but here’s Wikipedia version:
“””””The Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen, signed in Paris 9 February 1920, commonly called the Svalbard Treaty or the Spitsbergen Treaty, recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, at the time called Spitsbergen. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies. The treaty regulates the demilitarisation of the archipelago
. The signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities (mainly coal mining) on the islands. As of 2012, Norway and Russia are making use of this right.
There were fourteen original High Contracting Parties, including: the United States, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands,[1] Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and British overseas dominions of Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and New Zealand.[2] Several additional nations signed within the next five years before the treaty came into force, including the Soviet Union in 1924 and Germany and China in 1925. There are now over 40 signatories. The treaty was submitted for registration in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 21 October 1920.[3]
Of the original signatories Japan was the last to ratify the treaty on 2 August 1925. Subsequently, on 14 August 1925, the treaty came into force.[4]
History[edit]
The archipelago was discovered by the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz in 1596 and was originally called Spitsbergen, meaning "sharp-peaked mountains"
. It was uninhabited. The islands were renamed in the 1920s by Norway as Svalbard.
Spitsbergen/Svalbard began as a territory free of a nation, with multiple people from different countries participating in industries including fishing, whaling, mining, research and later, tourism. Not belonging to any nation left Svalbard largely free of regulations or laws, though there were conflicts over the area due to whaling rights and issues of sovereignty between England, the Netherlands, and Denmark–Norway in the first half of the 17th century. However, by the 20th century mineral deposits were found on the main island and continual conflicts between miners and owners created a need for a government.
The Treaty[edit]
By 9 February 1920 the Spitsbergen Treaty was signed in Paris during the Versailles negotiations after World War I. In this treaty, international diplomacy recognized Norwegian sovereignty (the Norwegian administration went in effect by 1925) as well as other principles relating to Svalbard. This includes:
Svalbard is part of Norway: Svalbard is completely controlled by and forms part of the Kingdom of Norway
. However, Norway's power over Svalbard is restricted by the limitations listed below:
Taxation: This allows taxes to be collected, but only enough to support Svalbard and the Svalbard government. This results in lower taxes than mainland Norway and the exclusion of any taxes on Svalbard supporting Norway directly. Also, Svalbard's revenues and expenses are separately budgeted from mainland Norway.
Environmental conservation: Norway must respect and preserve the Svalbard environment.
Non-discrimination: All citizens and all companies of every nation under the treaty are allowed to become residents and to have access to Svalbard including the right to fish, hunt or undertake any kind of maritime, industrial, mining or trade activity. The residents of Svalbard must follow Norwegian law though Norwegian authority cannot discriminate against or favor any residents of any given nationality.
Military restrictions: Article 9 prohibits naval bases and fortifications and also the use of Svalbard for war-like purposes
. It is not, however, entirely demilitarized.
Disputes regarding natural resources[edit]
200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone around Svalbard[edit]
There has been a long-running dispute, primarily between Norway and Russia (historically the Soviet Union) over fishing rights in the region.[5][6] In 1977, Norway established a regulated fishery in a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone around Svalbard (though it did not close the zone to foreign access).[5] Norway argues that the treaty's provisions of equal economic access apply only to the islands and their territorial waters (4 nautical miles at the time) but not to the wider Exclusive Economic Zone. In addition, it argues that the continental shelf is a part of mainland Norway's continental shelf and should be governed by the 1958 Continental Shelf Convention.[6] The Soviet Union/Russia disputed and continues to dispute this position and consider the Spitsbergen Treaty to apply to the entire zone. Talks were held in 1978 in Moscow but did not resolve the issue.[5] Finland and Canada support Norway's position, while most of the other treaty signatories have expressed no official position.[5] The relevant parts of the treaty are as follows:
Ships and nationals of all the High Contracting Parties shall enjoy equally the rights of fishing and hunting in the territories specified in Article 1 and in their territorial waters. (from Article 2)
They shall be admitted under the same conditions of equality to the exercise and practice of all maritime, industrial, mining or commercial enterprises both on land and in the territorial waters, and no monopoly shall be established on any account or for any enterprise whatever. (from Article 3)
Natural resources outside the 200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone[edit]
"Mainly the dispute is about whether the Svalbard Treaty also is in effect outside the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea," according to Norway's largest newspaper, Aftenposten.[7] If the treaty comes into effect outside the zone, then Norway will not be able to claim the full 78% of profits of oil- and gas harvesting, said Aftenposten in 2011.[8]””””””
Finally we are done and I find a nice Northern Lights calendar and a small polar bear for good luck. We head out after rugging up again and see the Duty Free shop and head for it. As we are walking down the street, a car pulls up to us and gives us each a reflective arm band so we will be seen better. I felt bad that we were going around without them but what a generous man and he was so impressed that we had come specifically to experience the dark and hopefully see the Northern Lights.
Into the Duty Free shop and she has a lot of items for everyday use, things that we would not normally find in what we consider a duty free shop like in an airport. She doesn’t have any of the reflective bands that we have seen on kids though, the ones that light up in the dark. She says the apothecary. She does have a magnet I like though.
Then to the shopping mall and again, because I’m not used to the place and there isn’t a lot of visual cues in the dim light, twice I try and turn into the wrong place but we finally find the mall and go into the shop to get a hot dog each which was like a real hot dog and not like a bad sausage dog from the UK. Then we get some ice cream and then go to one of the sports stores which I would think would have the reflective stuff but she points us also to the apothecary. So into the apothecary and she does have the light bands so I end up with three of which I wanted one red and one green for our daughter but she doesn’t have a green one. Maybe we’ll all just have one.
Back to the hotel to write and my hubby reads until he gets tired and wants to take a nap. I continue on so I can catch up with my days on this blog at least. There is a lot more noise in the hotel. People are coming in for the weekend. Apparently a lot of places will have a weekend meeting here or a weekend break for their employees. It’s fairly cheap to fly from Oslo or Tromso and especially if you have miles to use. That’s why the hotel will be full over the weekend. Think we already have neighbors in the room next to ours and they are noisy. Hope we will get good sleep. Tomorrow we will have to get up, eat, pack, check out, wait for a bit, take our ride around town for two hours, and leave for the trapper’s night around 7. Wish we could sleep longer!
More Wikipedia information on Polar Nights: and then since I seem to be doing Wikipedia a lot today, after Polar Night is the Wikipedia for the Global Seed Vault which is in Svalbard and we saw it – well the door anyway, but there was information on it in the museum which we didn’t realize it was there, so cool!
Now: Polar Night
“”””””The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles.[1] The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the Sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours. "Night" is understood as the center of the Sun being below a free horizon. Since the atmosphere bends the rays of the Sun, "light wins over darkness" by a few degrees. Hence the area that is affected by polar night is somewhat smaller than the area of midnight sun. The polar circle is located at a latitude between these two areas, at the latitude of approx. 66.5 degrees. For instance, in the most northern city of Sweden, Kiruna (located at the northern latitude of 67°51'), the polar night lasts for around 28 twenty-four hour periods, while the midnight sun lasts around 50 twenty-four hour periods.
Description[edit]
A common misconception is that the polar shortest day is totally dark everywhere inside the polar circle. In places very close to the poles it is completely dark, but regions located at the inner border of the polar circles experience polar twilight instead of polar night. In fact, polar regions typically get more twilight throughout the year than equatorial regions.
For regions inside the polar circles, the maximum lengths of the time that the Sun is completely below the horizon varies from about 20 hours at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle[citation needed] to 179 days at the Poles.[citation needed] However, not all this time is classified as polar night, since sunlight may be visible because of refraction.[citation needed] Also, the time when the Sun is above the horizon at the poles is 186 days. The numerical asymmetry occurs because the time when the Sun is partially above the horizon is counted towards the daytime. Also, the above numbers are average numbers: owing to the ellipticity of the Earth's orbit, where the South pole receives a week more of Sun-below-horizon than the North pole (see equinox).
Types of polar night[edit]
Early afternoon during the polar night in Tromsø, Norway.
Polar night on Nordkinn Peninsula, mainland Europe's northernmost peninsula.
As there are various kinds of twilight, there also exist various kinds of polar night. Each kind of polar night is defined as when it's darker than the corresponding kind of twilight. The descriptions below are based on relatively clear skies, so the sky will be darker in the presence of dense clouds.
Polar twilight[edit]
Polar twilight occurs in areas that are located at the inner border of the polar circles, where the Sun will be on or below the horizon all day on the winter solstice. There is then no true daylight at the solar culmination, only civil twilight. This means that the Sun is below the horizon, but by less than 6°. During civil twilight, there may still be enough light for normal outdoor activities because of light scattering by the upper atmosphere and refraction. Street lamps may remain on and a person looking at a window from within a brightly lit room may see their reflection even at noon, as the level of outdoor illuminance will be below that of many illuminated indoor spaces.
Sufferers of seasonal affective disorder tend to seek out therapy with artificial light, as the psychological benefits of daylight require relatively high levels of ambient light (up to 10,000 lux) which are not present in any stage of twilight, thus, the midday twilights experienced anywhere inside the polar circles are still "polar night" for this purpose.
Thus, polar twilight is limited to latitudes above 66.561 degrees above the equator or below the equator, in other words, above the Arctic circle or below the Antarctic circle.
Civil polar night[edit]
The civil polar night period produces only a faint glow of light visible at midday. It happens when there is no civil twilight and only nautical twilight occurs at the solar culmination. Civil twilight happens when the Sun is between 0 and 6° below the horizon, and civil night when it is lower than that. Therefore the civil polar night is limited to latitudes above 72° 34', which is exactly 6° inside the polar circle. Nowhere on mainland Europe is this definition met. On the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, however, civil polar night lasts from about 11 November until 30 January. Dikson, in Russia, experiences civil polar night for approximately a month. During dense cloud cover places like the coast of Finnmark (about 70°) in Norway will get a darker "day".
Nautical polar night[edit]
During the nautical polar night period, there is no trace of daylight, except around midday. It happens when there is no nautical twilight and only astronomical twilight occurs at the solar culmination. Nautical twilight happens when the Sun is between six and twelve degrees below the horizon. There is a location at the horizon around midday with more light than others because of refraction. During nautical night, the Sun is lower than 12° below the horizon, so nautical polar night is limited to latitudes above 78° 34', which is exactly 12° within the polar circle, or 11.5° from the pole. Alert, Nunavut, the northernmost settlement in Canada and the world, experiences this from late November to mid-January.
Astronomical polar night[edit]
The astronomical polar night is a period of continuous night where no astronomical twilight occurs. Astronomical twilight happens when the Sun is between twelve and eighteen degrees below the horizon and astronomical night when it is lower than that. Thus, the astronomical polar night is limited to latitudes above 84° 34', which is exactly 18° within the polar circle, or five and a half degrees from the pole. During the astronomical polar night stars of the sixth magnitude, which are the dimmest stars visible to the naked eye, will be visible throughout the entire day. This happens when the sun is between 18 to 23.5 degrees below the horizon. These conditions last about 11 weeks at the poles.
There are no known permanent settlements anywhere in this range of latitude. This portion of the Arctic Ocean is generally permanently ice-capped.[citation needed] Some[which?] scientific stations in Antarctica, including the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, experience this.
Effects on humans[edit]
The period of polar night can trigger depression in some people. People who suffer from seasonal affective disorder are particularly susceptible to these conditions.[citation needed] The polar night may also be implicated in some instances of solipsism syndrome.””””””
Now: Global Seed Vault:
“”””””The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the North Pole.[4] Conservationist Cary Fowler, in association with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR),[5] started the vault to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds that are duplicate samples, or "spare" copies, of seeds held in gene banks worldwide. The seed vault is an attempt to insure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).[6]
The Norwegian government entirely funded the vault's approximately NOK 45 million (US$9 million) construction.[7] Storing seeds in the vault is free to end users, with Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust paying for operational costs. Primary funding for the Trust comes from such organisations as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and from various governments worldwide.[8]
History[edit]
The Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) has, since 1984, stored backup Nordic plant germplasm via frozen seeds in an abandoned coal mine at Svalbard, over the years depositing more than 10,000 seed samples of more than 2,000 cultivars for 300 different species. The Nordic collection has for years duplicated seed samples from the Southern African Development Community. Both the Nordic and African collections have been transferred to the new Svalbard Global Seed Vault facility. On 1 January 2008 the Nordic Gene Bank was integrated with NordGen.[citation needed]
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland's prime ministers ceremonially laid "the first stone" on 19 June 2006.[1]
The seedbank is 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen Island,[9] and employs robust security systems. Seeds are packaged in special four-ply packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture. The facility is managed by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, though there are no permanent staff on-site.
Spitsbergen was considered ideal because it lacked tectonic activity and had permafrost, which aids preservation. Its being 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will keep the site dry even if the ice caps melt.[9] Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally recommended standard of −18 °C (−0.4 °F).[10] If the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the facility rises to the surrounding sandstone bedrock's temperature of −3 °C (27 °F).[4]
A feasibility study prior to construction determined that the vault could, for hundreds of years, preserve most major food crops' seeds. Some, including those of important grains, could survive far longer—possibly thousands of years.[11]
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault officially opened on 26 February 2008.[2] Approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating – the facility has a capacity to conserve 4.5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008.[12] Five percent of the seeds in the vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands (CGN), part of Wageningen University, Netherlands.[13]
Running the length of the facility's roof and down the front face to the entryway is an illuminated work of art that marks the location of the vault from a distance. In Norway, government-funded construction projects exceeding a certain cost must include artwork. KORO, the Norwegian State agency overseeing art in public spaces, engaged the artist Dyveke Sanne to install lighting that highlights the importance and qualities of Arctic light. The roof and vault entrance are filled with highly reflective stainless steel, mirrors, and prisms. The installation reflects polar light in the summer months, while in the winter, a network of 200 fibre-optic cables gives the piece a muted greenish-turquoise and white light.[14]
Mission[edit]
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault's mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks. While the popular press has emphasized its possible utility in the event of a major regional or global catastrophe, it will be more frequently accessed when genebanks lose samples due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, and natural disasters. These events occur with some regularity. War and civil strife have a history of destroying some genebanks. The national seed bank of the Philippines was damaged by flooding and later destroyed by a fire; the seed banks of Afghanistan and Iraq have been lost completely.[15] According to The Economist, "the Svalbard vault is a backup for the world's 1,750 seed banks, storehouses of agricultural biodiversity."[15]
Access to seeds[edit]
Vault seed samples are copies of samples stored in the depositing genebanks. Researchers, plant breeders, and other groups wishing to access seed samples cannot do so through the seed vault; they must instead request samples from the depositing genebanks. The samples stored in the genebanks will, in most cases, be accessible in accordance with the terms and conditions of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, approved by 118 countries or parties.[11][16]
The seed vault functions like a safe deposit box in a bank. The bank owns the building and the depositor owns the contents of his or her box. The Government of Norway owns the facility and the depositing genebanks own the seeds they send. The deposit of samples in Svalbard does not constitute a legal transfer of genetic resources. In genebank terminology this is called a "black box" arrangement. Each depositor signs a Deposit Agreement with NordGen, acting on behalf of Norway. The Agreement makes clear that Norway does not claim ownership over the deposited samples and that ownership remains with the depositor, who has the sole right of access to those materials in the seed vault. No one has access to anyone else's seeds from the seed vault.[11][17] The database of samples and depositors is maintained by NordGen.[18]
The Syrian Civil War caused another seed bank, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, to move its headquarters from Aleppo to Beirut. Due to difficulties by ICARDA in transferring its collection, in 2015 the Svalbard Vault authorized the first withdrawal of seeds in its history.[19][20][21]
Seed storage[edit]
Seed storage containers on metal shelving inside the vault
The seeds are stored in four-ply sealed envelopes, then placed into plastic tote containers on metal shelving racks. The storage rooms are kept at −18 °C (−0.4 °F). The low temperature and limited access to oxygen will ensure low metabolic activity and delay seed aging. The permafrost surrounding the facility will help maintain the low temperature of the seeds should the electricity supply fail.[7][17]
Global Crop Diversity Trust[edit]
The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) has played a key role in the planning of the seed vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors, the GCDT is assisting selected genebanks in developing countries as well as the international agricultural research centers in packaging and shipping seeds to the seed vault. An International Advisory Council is being established to provide guidance and advice. It will include representatives from the FAO, the CGIAR, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and other institutions.[citation needed]
First anniversary deposits[edit]
As part of the vault's first anniversary, more than 90,000 food crop seed samples were placed into storage, bringing the total number of seed samples to 400,000.[22] Among the new seeds includes 32 varieties of potatoes from Ireland's national gene banks and 20,000 new samples from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service.[23] Other seed samples came from Canada and Switzerland, as well as international seed researchers from Colombia, Mexico and Syria.[24] This 4-tonne (3.9-long-ton; 4.4-short-ton) shipment brought the total number of seeds stored in the vault to over 20 million.[22] As of this anniversary, the vault contained samples from approximately one-third of the world's most important food crop varieties.[24] Also part of the anniversary, experts on food production and climate change met for a three-day conference in Longyearbyen.[25]”””””
We had only planned on doing the museum today and maybe a bit of shopping so we did not set our alarm to get up, thinking that surely we would wake by around 8:30 or so. Surprisingly, my husband shown his flashlight down on me at 9:30 and that's when we got up. Again, without the visual cues of something showing a bit of light outside, we would have just kept on sleeping. So we jumped up and put on clothes and got to breakfast at 9:45. They stop serving at 10. At the moment there are just 3 of us in the hotel. This weekend it will be full which is why we have to vacate our room for one night.
After breakfast, we have time to kill before the museum opens at noon so we work on the computer catching up one day at a time and then about 12:15, we close up shop, rug up warm and head out
.
First stop is the shop where we bought our walking crampons. She is very gracious and gives us a free pair so now we have a spare. Unfortunately on other things, my warm hat has broken the plastic snap that makes it tight under my chin and my watch band has torn in two. I try and glue it back together but the super glue isn’t super enough and it doesn’t stay. Hate being without a watch.
We walk on down past the Radisson Blu hotel to the museum which is attached to a part of the university. We stand there to check our map and then see the museum sign and go in. There are lockers for your gloves and such, coat hangers with hangers that won’t come off the rack, and slippers so you can take off your boots. We do all that before we get to the desk. I see that it has a pensioners sign and ask for that price. It’s really just for Norwegians but she lets me have that price as well. Yea me. Saved some money.
The first exhibit was "Polar Night" which had a lot of posters with information on the life in the seas and on the land and what happens during the polar night. It was fascinating and how interesting that a lot of the sea creatures depend on the night to reproduce and to keep functioning and survive
. Plus places where the moon and the northern lights are the only illumination for almost 6 months of the year. So these animals/plants/whatever must have this little bit of light to survive and do so quite handily. It was a good exhibit.
The rest of the museum was quite good as well. A lot of information about the settlers, the treaty that made Svalbard into the Russian/Norwegian protectorates that it is now, the life of the miners, the hunters, the whalers, the families and such. It took us a couple of hours to do the museum and I read it all which normally I don’t like to do.
This is what I found in Wikipedia on the Svalbard Treaty. It doesn’t mention the Russian concession and mining town of Barentsburg in the north but from everything we were told, Russia was a part of the agreement and if either country – Norway or Russia – pulled out of the area and the mining, the other country would kind of have free reign to go in and take it over. Not sure how it all works but here’s Wikipedia version:
“””””The Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen, signed in Paris 9 February 1920, commonly called the Svalbard Treaty or the Spitsbergen Treaty, recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, at the time called Spitsbergen. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies. The treaty regulates the demilitarisation of the archipelago
. The signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities (mainly coal mining) on the islands. As of 2012, Norway and Russia are making use of this right.
There were fourteen original High Contracting Parties, including: the United States, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands,[1] Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and British overseas dominions of Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and New Zealand.[2] Several additional nations signed within the next five years before the treaty came into force, including the Soviet Union in 1924 and Germany and China in 1925. There are now over 40 signatories. The treaty was submitted for registration in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 21 October 1920.[3]
Of the original signatories Japan was the last to ratify the treaty on 2 August 1925. Subsequently, on 14 August 1925, the treaty came into force.[4]
History[edit]
The archipelago was discovered by the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz in 1596 and was originally called Spitsbergen, meaning "sharp-peaked mountains"
. It was uninhabited. The islands were renamed in the 1920s by Norway as Svalbard.
Spitsbergen/Svalbard began as a territory free of a nation, with multiple people from different countries participating in industries including fishing, whaling, mining, research and later, tourism. Not belonging to any nation left Svalbard largely free of regulations or laws, though there were conflicts over the area due to whaling rights and issues of sovereignty between England, the Netherlands, and Denmark–Norway in the first half of the 17th century. However, by the 20th century mineral deposits were found on the main island and continual conflicts between miners and owners created a need for a government.
The Treaty[edit]
By 9 February 1920 the Spitsbergen Treaty was signed in Paris during the Versailles negotiations after World War I. In this treaty, international diplomacy recognized Norwegian sovereignty (the Norwegian administration went in effect by 1925) as well as other principles relating to Svalbard. This includes:
Svalbard is part of Norway: Svalbard is completely controlled by and forms part of the Kingdom of Norway
. However, Norway's power over Svalbard is restricted by the limitations listed below:
Taxation: This allows taxes to be collected, but only enough to support Svalbard and the Svalbard government. This results in lower taxes than mainland Norway and the exclusion of any taxes on Svalbard supporting Norway directly. Also, Svalbard's revenues and expenses are separately budgeted from mainland Norway.
Environmental conservation: Norway must respect and preserve the Svalbard environment.
Non-discrimination: All citizens and all companies of every nation under the treaty are allowed to become residents and to have access to Svalbard including the right to fish, hunt or undertake any kind of maritime, industrial, mining or trade activity. The residents of Svalbard must follow Norwegian law though Norwegian authority cannot discriminate against or favor any residents of any given nationality.
Military restrictions: Article 9 prohibits naval bases and fortifications and also the use of Svalbard for war-like purposes
. It is not, however, entirely demilitarized.
Disputes regarding natural resources[edit]
200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone around Svalbard[edit]
There has been a long-running dispute, primarily between Norway and Russia (historically the Soviet Union) over fishing rights in the region.[5][6] In 1977, Norway established a regulated fishery in a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone around Svalbard (though it did not close the zone to foreign access).[5] Norway argues that the treaty's provisions of equal economic access apply only to the islands and their territorial waters (4 nautical miles at the time) but not to the wider Exclusive Economic Zone. In addition, it argues that the continental shelf is a part of mainland Norway's continental shelf and should be governed by the 1958 Continental Shelf Convention.[6] The Soviet Union/Russia disputed and continues to dispute this position and consider the Spitsbergen Treaty to apply to the entire zone. Talks were held in 1978 in Moscow but did not resolve the issue.[5] Finland and Canada support Norway's position, while most of the other treaty signatories have expressed no official position.[5] The relevant parts of the treaty are as follows:
Ships and nationals of all the High Contracting Parties shall enjoy equally the rights of fishing and hunting in the territories specified in Article 1 and in their territorial waters. (from Article 2)
They shall be admitted under the same conditions of equality to the exercise and practice of all maritime, industrial, mining or commercial enterprises both on land and in the territorial waters, and no monopoly shall be established on any account or for any enterprise whatever. (from Article 3)
Natural resources outside the 200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone[edit]
"Mainly the dispute is about whether the Svalbard Treaty also is in effect outside the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea," according to Norway's largest newspaper, Aftenposten.[7] If the treaty comes into effect outside the zone, then Norway will not be able to claim the full 78% of profits of oil- and gas harvesting, said Aftenposten in 2011.[8]””””””
Finally we are done and I find a nice Northern Lights calendar and a small polar bear for good luck. We head out after rugging up again and see the Duty Free shop and head for it. As we are walking down the street, a car pulls up to us and gives us each a reflective arm band so we will be seen better. I felt bad that we were going around without them but what a generous man and he was so impressed that we had come specifically to experience the dark and hopefully see the Northern Lights.
Into the Duty Free shop and she has a lot of items for everyday use, things that we would not normally find in what we consider a duty free shop like in an airport. She doesn’t have any of the reflective bands that we have seen on kids though, the ones that light up in the dark. She says the apothecary. She does have a magnet I like though.
Then to the shopping mall and again, because I’m not used to the place and there isn’t a lot of visual cues in the dim light, twice I try and turn into the wrong place but we finally find the mall and go into the shop to get a hot dog each which was like a real hot dog and not like a bad sausage dog from the UK. Then we get some ice cream and then go to one of the sports stores which I would think would have the reflective stuff but she points us also to the apothecary. So into the apothecary and she does have the light bands so I end up with three of which I wanted one red and one green for our daughter but she doesn’t have a green one. Maybe we’ll all just have one.
Back to the hotel to write and my hubby reads until he gets tired and wants to take a nap. I continue on so I can catch up with my days on this blog at least. There is a lot more noise in the hotel. People are coming in for the weekend. Apparently a lot of places will have a weekend meeting here or a weekend break for their employees. It’s fairly cheap to fly from Oslo or Tromso and especially if you have miles to use. That’s why the hotel will be full over the weekend. Think we already have neighbors in the room next to ours and they are noisy. Hope we will get good sleep. Tomorrow we will have to get up, eat, pack, check out, wait for a bit, take our ride around town for two hours, and leave for the trapper’s night around 7. Wish we could sleep longer!
More Wikipedia information on Polar Nights: and then since I seem to be doing Wikipedia a lot today, after Polar Night is the Wikipedia for the Global Seed Vault which is in Svalbard and we saw it – well the door anyway, but there was information on it in the museum which we didn’t realize it was there, so cool!
Now: Polar Night
“”””””The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles.[1] The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the Sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours. "Night" is understood as the center of the Sun being below a free horizon. Since the atmosphere bends the rays of the Sun, "light wins over darkness" by a few degrees. Hence the area that is affected by polar night is somewhat smaller than the area of midnight sun. The polar circle is located at a latitude between these two areas, at the latitude of approx. 66.5 degrees. For instance, in the most northern city of Sweden, Kiruna (located at the northern latitude of 67°51'), the polar night lasts for around 28 twenty-four hour periods, while the midnight sun lasts around 50 twenty-four hour periods.
Description[edit]
A common misconception is that the polar shortest day is totally dark everywhere inside the polar circle. In places very close to the poles it is completely dark, but regions located at the inner border of the polar circles experience polar twilight instead of polar night. In fact, polar regions typically get more twilight throughout the year than equatorial regions.
For regions inside the polar circles, the maximum lengths of the time that the Sun is completely below the horizon varies from about 20 hours at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle[citation needed] to 179 days at the Poles.[citation needed] However, not all this time is classified as polar night, since sunlight may be visible because of refraction.[citation needed] Also, the time when the Sun is above the horizon at the poles is 186 days. The numerical asymmetry occurs because the time when the Sun is partially above the horizon is counted towards the daytime. Also, the above numbers are average numbers: owing to the ellipticity of the Earth's orbit, where the South pole receives a week more of Sun-below-horizon than the North pole (see equinox).
Types of polar night[edit]
Early afternoon during the polar night in Tromsø, Norway.
Polar night on Nordkinn Peninsula, mainland Europe's northernmost peninsula.
As there are various kinds of twilight, there also exist various kinds of polar night. Each kind of polar night is defined as when it's darker than the corresponding kind of twilight. The descriptions below are based on relatively clear skies, so the sky will be darker in the presence of dense clouds.
Polar twilight[edit]
Polar twilight occurs in areas that are located at the inner border of the polar circles, where the Sun will be on or below the horizon all day on the winter solstice. There is then no true daylight at the solar culmination, only civil twilight. This means that the Sun is below the horizon, but by less than 6°. During civil twilight, there may still be enough light for normal outdoor activities because of light scattering by the upper atmosphere and refraction. Street lamps may remain on and a person looking at a window from within a brightly lit room may see their reflection even at noon, as the level of outdoor illuminance will be below that of many illuminated indoor spaces.
Sufferers of seasonal affective disorder tend to seek out therapy with artificial light, as the psychological benefits of daylight require relatively high levels of ambient light (up to 10,000 lux) which are not present in any stage of twilight, thus, the midday twilights experienced anywhere inside the polar circles are still "polar night" for this purpose.
Thus, polar twilight is limited to latitudes above 66.561 degrees above the equator or below the equator, in other words, above the Arctic circle or below the Antarctic circle.
Civil polar night[edit]
The civil polar night period produces only a faint glow of light visible at midday. It happens when there is no civil twilight and only nautical twilight occurs at the solar culmination. Civil twilight happens when the Sun is between 0 and 6° below the horizon, and civil night when it is lower than that. Therefore the civil polar night is limited to latitudes above 72° 34', which is exactly 6° inside the polar circle. Nowhere on mainland Europe is this definition met. On the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, however, civil polar night lasts from about 11 November until 30 January. Dikson, in Russia, experiences civil polar night for approximately a month. During dense cloud cover places like the coast of Finnmark (about 70°) in Norway will get a darker "day".
Nautical polar night[edit]
During the nautical polar night period, there is no trace of daylight, except around midday. It happens when there is no nautical twilight and only astronomical twilight occurs at the solar culmination. Nautical twilight happens when the Sun is between six and twelve degrees below the horizon. There is a location at the horizon around midday with more light than others because of refraction. During nautical night, the Sun is lower than 12° below the horizon, so nautical polar night is limited to latitudes above 78° 34', which is exactly 12° within the polar circle, or 11.5° from the pole. Alert, Nunavut, the northernmost settlement in Canada and the world, experiences this from late November to mid-January.
Astronomical polar night[edit]
The astronomical polar night is a period of continuous night where no astronomical twilight occurs. Astronomical twilight happens when the Sun is between twelve and eighteen degrees below the horizon and astronomical night when it is lower than that. Thus, the astronomical polar night is limited to latitudes above 84° 34', which is exactly 18° within the polar circle, or five and a half degrees from the pole. During the astronomical polar night stars of the sixth magnitude, which are the dimmest stars visible to the naked eye, will be visible throughout the entire day. This happens when the sun is between 18 to 23.5 degrees below the horizon. These conditions last about 11 weeks at the poles.
There are no known permanent settlements anywhere in this range of latitude. This portion of the Arctic Ocean is generally permanently ice-capped.[citation needed] Some[which?] scientific stations in Antarctica, including the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, experience this.
Effects on humans[edit]
The period of polar night can trigger depression in some people. People who suffer from seasonal affective disorder are particularly susceptible to these conditions.[citation needed] The polar night may also be implicated in some instances of solipsism syndrome.””””””
Now: Global Seed Vault:
“”””””The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the North Pole.[4] Conservationist Cary Fowler, in association with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR),[5] started the vault to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds that are duplicate samples, or "spare" copies, of seeds held in gene banks worldwide. The seed vault is an attempt to insure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).[6]
The Norwegian government entirely funded the vault's approximately NOK 45 million (US$9 million) construction.[7] Storing seeds in the vault is free to end users, with Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust paying for operational costs. Primary funding for the Trust comes from such organisations as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and from various governments worldwide.[8]
History[edit]
The Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) has, since 1984, stored backup Nordic plant germplasm via frozen seeds in an abandoned coal mine at Svalbard, over the years depositing more than 10,000 seed samples of more than 2,000 cultivars for 300 different species. The Nordic collection has for years duplicated seed samples from the Southern African Development Community. Both the Nordic and African collections have been transferred to the new Svalbard Global Seed Vault facility. On 1 January 2008 the Nordic Gene Bank was integrated with NordGen.[citation needed]
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland's prime ministers ceremonially laid "the first stone" on 19 June 2006.[1]
The seedbank is 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen Island,[9] and employs robust security systems. Seeds are packaged in special four-ply packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture. The facility is managed by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, though there are no permanent staff on-site.
Spitsbergen was considered ideal because it lacked tectonic activity and had permafrost, which aids preservation. Its being 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will keep the site dry even if the ice caps melt.[9] Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally recommended standard of −18 °C (−0.4 °F).[10] If the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the facility rises to the surrounding sandstone bedrock's temperature of −3 °C (27 °F).[4]
A feasibility study prior to construction determined that the vault could, for hundreds of years, preserve most major food crops' seeds. Some, including those of important grains, could survive far longer—possibly thousands of years.[11]
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault officially opened on 26 February 2008.[2] Approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating – the facility has a capacity to conserve 4.5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008.[12] Five percent of the seeds in the vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands (CGN), part of Wageningen University, Netherlands.[13]
Running the length of the facility's roof and down the front face to the entryway is an illuminated work of art that marks the location of the vault from a distance. In Norway, government-funded construction projects exceeding a certain cost must include artwork. KORO, the Norwegian State agency overseeing art in public spaces, engaged the artist Dyveke Sanne to install lighting that highlights the importance and qualities of Arctic light. The roof and vault entrance are filled with highly reflective stainless steel, mirrors, and prisms. The installation reflects polar light in the summer months, while in the winter, a network of 200 fibre-optic cables gives the piece a muted greenish-turquoise and white light.[14]
Mission[edit]
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault's mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks. While the popular press has emphasized its possible utility in the event of a major regional or global catastrophe, it will be more frequently accessed when genebanks lose samples due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, and natural disasters. These events occur with some regularity. War and civil strife have a history of destroying some genebanks. The national seed bank of the Philippines was damaged by flooding and later destroyed by a fire; the seed banks of Afghanistan and Iraq have been lost completely.[15] According to The Economist, "the Svalbard vault is a backup for the world's 1,750 seed banks, storehouses of agricultural biodiversity."[15]
Access to seeds[edit]
Vault seed samples are copies of samples stored in the depositing genebanks. Researchers, plant breeders, and other groups wishing to access seed samples cannot do so through the seed vault; they must instead request samples from the depositing genebanks. The samples stored in the genebanks will, in most cases, be accessible in accordance with the terms and conditions of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, approved by 118 countries or parties.[11][16]
The seed vault functions like a safe deposit box in a bank. The bank owns the building and the depositor owns the contents of his or her box. The Government of Norway owns the facility and the depositing genebanks own the seeds they send. The deposit of samples in Svalbard does not constitute a legal transfer of genetic resources. In genebank terminology this is called a "black box" arrangement. Each depositor signs a Deposit Agreement with NordGen, acting on behalf of Norway. The Agreement makes clear that Norway does not claim ownership over the deposited samples and that ownership remains with the depositor, who has the sole right of access to those materials in the seed vault. No one has access to anyone else's seeds from the seed vault.[11][17] The database of samples and depositors is maintained by NordGen.[18]
The Syrian Civil War caused another seed bank, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, to move its headquarters from Aleppo to Beirut. Due to difficulties by ICARDA in transferring its collection, in 2015 the Svalbard Vault authorized the first withdrawal of seeds in its history.[19][20][21]
Seed storage[edit]
Seed storage containers on metal shelving inside the vault
The seeds are stored in four-ply sealed envelopes, then placed into plastic tote containers on metal shelving racks. The storage rooms are kept at −18 °C (−0.4 °F). The low temperature and limited access to oxygen will ensure low metabolic activity and delay seed aging. The permafrost surrounding the facility will help maintain the low temperature of the seeds should the electricity supply fail.[7][17]
Global Crop Diversity Trust[edit]
The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) has played a key role in the planning of the seed vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors, the GCDT is assisting selected genebanks in developing countries as well as the international agricultural research centers in packaging and shipping seeds to the seed vault. An International Advisory Council is being established to provide guidance and advice. It will include representatives from the FAO, the CGIAR, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and other institutions.[citation needed]
First anniversary deposits[edit]
As part of the vault's first anniversary, more than 90,000 food crop seed samples were placed into storage, bringing the total number of seed samples to 400,000.[22] Among the new seeds includes 32 varieties of potatoes from Ireland's national gene banks and 20,000 new samples from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service.[23] Other seed samples came from Canada and Switzerland, as well as international seed researchers from Colombia, Mexico and Syria.[24] This 4-tonne (3.9-long-ton; 4.4-short-ton) shipment brought the total number of seeds stored in the vault to over 20 million.[22] As of this anniversary, the vault contained samples from approximately one-third of the world's most important food crop varieties.[24] Also part of the anniversary, experts on food production and climate change met for a three-day conference in Longyearbyen.[25]”””””
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