Goodbye Global Warming - Solar Minimum 2009

During the last Little Ice Age, which lasted from the 14th to the 19th Centuries, a period of prolonged cold known as the Dalton Minimum (1796‐1824), began with a solar cycle th... (More) During the last Little Ice Age, which lasted from the 14th to the 19th Centuries, a period of prolonged cold known as the Dalton Minimum (1796‐1824), began with a solar cycle that lasted for 13.6 years. That solar cycle, numbered 4, was then followed by two very inactive solar cycles. During this time period there were reports of wide‐scale crop failures and food shortages. If similar conditions occur after this present ongoing deep solar minimum, and there is a large drop in temperature due to an inactive Sun, the world could see further stress on the food supply.

*Google: "Doomsday Seed Vault" in the Arctic - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen.

Icy Global Seed Vault Hosts Global Warming Meeting

February 26, 2009 (ENS) - Four tons of seeds representing hundreds of crop species were delivered today to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault as it celebrated its one-year anniversary. The vault in nothern Norway is intended to serve as a fail-safe backup should the original samples be lost or damaged or to provide a Noah's ark for agriculture in the event of a global catastrophe.

The seeds arriving today are from food crop collections maintained by Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, the United States, and three international agricultural research centers in Syria, Mexico and Colombia.

Located near the village of Longyearbyen on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, the repository has in one year amassed a collection of more than 400,000 unique seed samples - some 200 million seeds.

"We are especially proud to see such a large number of countries work quickly to provide samples from their collections for safekeeping in the vault," said Norwegian Agriculture Minister Lars Peder Brekk. "It shows that there are situations in the world today capable of transcending politics and inspiring a strong unity of purpose among a diverse community of nations."

"Right now, our world faces an unprecedented challenge - a challenge that threatens the quality of life on every continent. I am talking about climate change," said Brekk. "As science tries to keep up with the looming threats of changing climates and weather patterns, increasing temperatures and melting ice caps, we here in Svalbard are well aware that the most important use of crop diversity in the coming decades will be helping agriculture adapt to these changes."

"The vault was opened last year to ensure that one day all of humanity's existing food crop varieties would be safely protected from any threat to agricultural production, natural or man made. It's amazing how far we have come toward accomplishing that goal," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which operates the seed vault in partnership with the Norwegian government and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center in Sweden.

Speakers at the seminar "Frozen seeds in a frozen mountain - feeding a warming world" include the authors of a study published last month in "Science" magazine warning that by the end of this century the average temperatures during growing seasons in many regions will probably be higher than the most extreme heat recorded over the last 100 years.

"When we see research indicating that global warming could diminish maize production by 30 percent in southern Africa in only 20 years' time, it shows that crop diversity is needed to adapt agriculture to climate change right now," said Frank Loy, former under secretary of state for global affairs and an advisor to President Barack Obama's transition team on environment and climate change.

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