Far to the north, above the Arctic Circle, in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, on the remote and silent glacial expanse of the Norwegian archipelago, is a futuristic concrete structure jutting out of the glacial landscape of Svalbard.This architectural marvel marks the entrance to what appears to be a museum of modern art, but is actually a vault containing a backup plan for the planet – 1.1 million seed samples from every country in the world, preserved in permafrost in case of a global catastrophe.Known as the “Svalbard Seed Vault”, it is the largest library in the world with 13,000 years of agricultural history and biodiversity.In gene and seed banks around the world, copies of the planet's important plant species are stored – and a frontline defense against the many threats the world faces.But, in the event that the original copies are destroyed by catastrophe – natural disaster, conflict, disease, human error or any other global crisis, the Svalbard Vault provides a safe haven, preserving a second layer of security duplicates of “exclusives and valuable plant materials.”With a total capacity of 4.5 million samples, the so-called "Doomsday Vault" serves a "humanitarian purpose" by providing a last resort for the planet's seeds.Since its inception, except for urgent deposits, the vault doors are only opened three times a year – the rest of the time the vault is closed.Once inside, the seeds are stored and are expected to remain viable for thousands of years.Established by a coalition between the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Crop Trust, under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which was tasked with establishing it and now monitors it, the vault invites the world to ship and store samples from every corner of the globe.Once received at Oslo airport, the organization arranges for shipment to Svalbard, preserving the copies in a “secure, free and long-term” storage system.Frozen assets range from seeds essential to current farming practices, to wild varieties of domesticated strains, as well as historical samples that are no longer in use or existing outside of the deep freeze.Inside the vault are endless varieties of crop strains from all continents.From African and Asian staples such as maize, rice, wheat, to European and South American vegetables and grains such as eggplant, lettuce, barley and potatoes.Inside are copies of:All memberships are of vital importance to preserving global agriculture, scientific research, plant breeding and education, providing a last hope for plant species of great value to humanity's future and ensuring the "world's future food supply" .“There are doomsdays big and small happening all over the world every day.Genetic material is being lost all over the world,” says former Executive Director of the Crop Trust, Marie Haga.Home to many of the world's natural wonders, such as the Northern Lights, the 'midnight sun' in high northern summer, and the mountainous glacial landscape – albeit close to the North Pole – Svalbard is polarization-free.Nearly 2,000 km north of the Norwegian mainland, 1,700 m above sea level and 130 m in thick mountainside permafrost, Svalbard's remote glacial tundra remains silent, stable and somewhat inaccessible.While the rest of the world experiences turmoil in political, climate and weather stability, this is expected to remain one of the driest, coldest and safest places on Earth.The seed vault is described by former UN chief Ban Ki-moon as an "inspiring symbol of peace and food security for all mankind".5,000 different plant species are frozen here.Once stored on the vault's floor-to-ceiling shelves in airtight aluminum pouches at -18°C, the seeds are loaded into a database and the envelopes will likely never be opened again – unless catastrophe strikes.The island is also seismically stable, and its northern latitude and altitude are important for protecting seeds from threats such as tsunamis, sea level rise, pests, rodents and many diseases.Svalbard is also extremely far from any of the other gene banks on the planet, which generally reside further south, so the environmental and political tensions that might pose a threat to the original copies are unlikely to reach the safety of the Norwegian Arctic.“Norway is a quiet, safe corner at the top of the world,” says the vault's management, and in many ways it is “a perfect backup location for the world's seeds”.While geographically stable, the vault is also strategically well prepared for the inevitability of change due to global warming.Precautions were taken to waterproof the building in preparation for "wetter and warmer weather in the future", with weather conditions in the area being continuously monitored to ensure the protection of seeds on site.Mysteries of the World © 2022 - All rights reserved