Seeds bank in Spitsbergen and ice rinks to save the Arctic

Launched in 2008, the Global Seed Bank in Arctic Spitsbergen is considered an essential support for gene baThe Global Seed Bank in Arctic Spitsbergen was launched in 2008 and is considered an essential support for gene banks worldwide. It protects plants from war, disease, and climate change. The bank’s chambers are opened only three times a year and have seeds from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Zambia. One million seeds, representing over 13,000 years of agricultural history, are stored in the bank’s seed banks from 77 countries. 

Dutch start-up Arctic Reflections plans to use a technique to create ice rinks to deal with the problem of melting ice in the Arctic. The technique involves flooding fields and meadows with a thin layer of water until ice forms, approximately 1 m thick or more. Meanwhile, Real Ice is experimenting by flooding part of Cambridge Bay in the Canadian Arctic.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh now have more detailed knowledge about where and when the shores of Antarctica began to melt. Researchers tracked the changing shapes of bulges on the ice surface that mark where glaciers are anchored. Fifty years ago, few of these frozen “berths” showed much change, but since 2000, more than ⅓ have reduced in size, indicating that melting is accelerating. The study’s findings highlight the impact of Antarctic ice loss on sea level rise worldwide.