The sealed vault in the Arctic built to preserve seeds for rice, wheat and other food staples contains one million varieties with the addition on Tuesday of specimens grown by Cherokee Indians and the estate of Britain's Prince Charles.
Two adventurers have successfully crossed the Arctic Ocean on skis after persevering through brutal conditions, briefly running out of food, and struggling to traverse thin ice caused by global warming, their team said on Sunday.
The oceans contain almost 200,000 different viral populations, according to the latest count. Marine viruses were found from the surface down to 4,000m deep and from the North to the South Pole. Though most are harmless to humans, they can infect marine life, including whales and crustaceans.
The north Atlantic current flowing in to the Arctic Ocean is warmer that it has been for at least 2000 years and is a sign that global warming is likely to bring ice free seas around the North Pole in a few years time, a new study finds