挪威宣布将斥资1亿挪威克朗（约合1300万美元）升级北极一个特殊的种子库。
The Norwegian government built the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in 2008 to store seed samples of the world's crops and plants. The vault serves as a natural deep freeze, and is meant to protect important genetic material in case of a major man-made or natural disaster.
挪威政府于2008年建立了斯瓦尔巴全球种子库，以储存全球作物和植物的种子样本。该种子库作为天然的深冻冷库，目的是为了在遇到重大的人为或自然灾害时保护重要的遗传物质。
It holds seed varieties of crops from around the world, including corn, rice and grains. The vault received its one-millionth seed sample on February 26, its 10th anniversary. It has the ability to hold about 2.5 billion seeds in total.
它储存了世界各地作物的种子品种，包括玉米、大米和谷物。该种子库在2月26日，也就是十周年纪念日这天收到其第一百万份种子样本。该种子库一共能储存25亿份种子。
The vault is located on an island about 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole. The samples are buried deep below a mountain.
该种子库位于距离北极约1000公里的一个岛上。这些种子样本都被储存在一座大山的深处。
Svalbard was chosen as the site of the seed bank, in part, because of the area's permafrost – a thick layer of soil that stays frozen throughout the year. It makes for excellent underground cold storage.
斯瓦尔巴群岛被选为种子库的部分原因是因为该区的永久冻土层，这是一年四季都保持冻结的一层厚厚的土壤。这为优良的地下冷库提供了有利条件。
But in late 2016, the permafrost began to unexpectedly melt. This caused water to flow into the entrance of the vault tunnel. Officials said the seeds were never in danger. However, the event raised concerns about the need to better protect the samples.
但是在2016年，冻土层出乎意料地开始融化，导致融水流入了种子库的通道入口。有关官员表示，种子并无危险。不过，该事件让人们意识到需要更好地保护这些种子样本。
Norway's Agriculture Ministry said improvements to the vault will include a new entry tunnel. They also include construction of a service building for emergency power and cooling units and electrical equipment that might send heat through the tunnel.
挪威农业部表示，对种子库的升级将包括建设一条新的入口通道，还包括建造一栋服务大楼，用于放置应急电力、冷却装置以及可能会向隧道输入热量的电器设备。
Jon Georg Dale is Norway's minister of agriculture and food. He announced the plans. He said they will help the vault continue to be a secure storage area. "It is a great and important task to safeguard all the genetic material that is crucial to global food security," he said.
约恩·耶奥格·达勒(Jon Georg Dale)是挪威农业与食品部部长。他宣布了这些计划。他表示会帮助种子库继续成为一个安全的存储区域。他说，“保护对全球粮食安全至关重要的所有遗传物质是一项伟大而又重要的任务。”
The Svalbard vault acts as a backup to many of the world's seed banks. In 2015, researchers took out seeds from the vault to help build seed collections in Lebanon and Morocco. Those sites were set up to protect materials from an important seed bank in Aleppo, Syria, which was damaged by violence from the country's civil war.
斯瓦尔巴种子库是全球许多种子库的备份库。2015年，研究人员从这里取出种子帮助人们在黎巴嫩和摩洛哥建立了种子库。建造这些种子库是为了保护出自叙利亚阿勒颇一个重要种子库的种子，阿勒颇这个种子库在该国的内战中被暴力所摧毁。
The seeds were re-grown and returned to the Svalbard vault last year.
这些种子在重新育种后，又在去年被重新送回了斯瓦尔巴种子库。
Dale said such efforts show "that the seed vault is a worldwide insurance for food supply for future generations."
达勒表示，此等措施表明，种子库是一项为后代提供食物供应的全球保险措施。”
I'm Pete Musto.
我是皮特·玛索。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)