2.24.2008 9:56 AM

Doomsday Seed Bank Opens This Week

Arctic Vault Will Preserve Crops Threatened by Global Warming and Disasters Both Man-made and Natural

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault shown under construction.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, shown here under construction, will preserve hundreds of thousands of varieties of the world's food crops.

Photo: Cary Fowler / Global Crop Diversity Trust

By Dan Shapley

The Arctic doomsday seed vault will open this week, according to the Press Association.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world's insurance policy on a host of threats that could destroy important crops, from global warming and war to natural disasters like drought, flood and wildfire.

The vault's initial repository will include 250,000 varieties (10 million seeds) from "virtually every country in the world," according to the Association.

"All that can be seen of the vault outside the mountain is a concrete wedge, inside which a (410-foot) tunnel goes deep into the hillside, ending in three vaults with airlocked doors, keypad entry, stone and plastic-impregnated concrete walls," the Association reports. "The air has been cooled to between -18C and -20C, but Norwegian meteorologists have calculated that without power, the vaults would still be below freezing 200 years from now under the worst climate change scenario."

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