Today the ‘Doomsday Vault’ will open….full article at Yahoo!Green
Aimed at providing mankind with a Noah’s Ark of food in the event of a global catastrophe, an Arctic “doomsday vault” filled with samples of the world’s most important seeds will be inaugurated here Tuesday….
…[The Svalbard Global Seed Vault] has the capacity to hold up to 4.5 million batches of seeds from all known varieties of the planet’s main food crops, making it possible to re-establish plants if they disappear from their natural environment or are obliterated by major disasters.
There are other seed banks throughout the world, but since other sites in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippines have suffered damage by war or natural disaster, efforts to consolidate the diverse samples from around the world have been increased. The new site is located in Norway, and is buried in permafrost a mere 620 miles from the North Pole.
Countries contributing samples for storage in the ‘Doomsday Vault’ will retain ownership of their contributions.