Frozen for the Future: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Deep inside a mountain on a remote Norwegian island lies one of the world's most unusual storage facilities. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was built protect crop seeds from wars, natural disasters and climate change. Since it opened in 2008, countries ranging small island nations to major agricultural powers have sent samples of their most important seeds to be kept safe there. The vault was placed deep inside a frozen mountain so the seeds would stay cold even if the electricity supply failed completely. Visitors are rarely allowed inside. fact, the vault is not a tourist attraction but a last resort for humanity. Each sample is sealed in a special, airtight package, keeps moisture and air away from the seeds. So far, the vault never been used on a large scale, although one country did withdraw seeds after its own seed bank was damaged by conflict. Scientists hope the vault will never be needed, but they agree it is better to be prepared to risk losing crops that took centuries to develop.