Arctic vault to preserve world's seeds.

Come global warming, come war, come whatever, the world will come out of it with access to as many as 4.5 million agricultural seeds to give humanity a fresh start, thanks to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault blasted deep into the permafrost of a remote Arctic archipelago.

The Svalbard Archipelago, 300 miles north of the mainland of Norway, was selected because of its remote location far from many threats, as well as for its cold climate and permafrost. "It's very satisfying to see the vault evolve from a bold concept to an impressive facility that has everything we need to protect crop biodiversity," said Norway's Agriculture Minister Terje Riis-Johansen.

Norway first proposed building what it called a "Noah's Ark" for the world's seeds in June 2005, and started construction a year later, blasting a nearly 400-foot tunnel into a frozen mountain and placing the vault for foil-wrapped seeds deep inside. Each sample holds about 500 seeds. The facility is scheduled to open February 28, after powerful cooling units have brought its temperature down to the target of about zero.

"The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust, a project partner. "At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 1,000 years." There are about 1,400 other seed banks, but they are more vulnerable--one in the Philippines was wiped out by a typhoon last year; others in Iraq and Afghanistan were destroyed by war.