'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Arctic

[babylonsister]

'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Arctic

Arctic Vault Opens to Protect World's Seeds From Doomsday Threats

DOUG MELLGREN
AP News

Feb 26, 2008 14:50 EST


Norway opened a frozen "doomsday" vault Tuesday deep within an Arctic mountain where millions of seeds will be stored to safeguard against wars or natural disasters wiping out food crops around the globe.

Biblical references repeatedly cropped up as guests at the opening ceremony carried the first seed deposits into the vault in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

"This is a frozen Garden of Eden," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, standing in one of the frosty vaults against a backdrop of large discs made of ice.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the vault an "insurance policy" and added his own biblical comparison: "It is the Noah's Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations."

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, just 620 miles from the North Pole, is designed to house as many as 4.5 million crop seeds from all over the world. It is built to withstand global warming, earthquakes and even nuclear strikes.

more...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/02/doomsday_seed_vault_opens_in_a.php

[bdamomma]

1. this was reported on NBC Nightly News last nite

very interesting indeed.