Tuesday, November 20, 2007

SEEDING THE FUTURE

Giant vault to preserve major food crops
http://www.focusmag.co.uk/newsread.asp?ID=36221

17:55:33  20/11/2007


The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic is well on its way to storing all known varieties of crop seeds in a bid to protect species from worldly disasters.

The construction of the vault, sponsored by the Norwegian government, promises to preserve 4.5 million seed samples at temperatures of around -18oC. The Global Diversity Trust, responsible for collecting and maintaining the samples, claims that crops at these temperatures can last for up to a 1000 years.

The vault is 1000km in length and located inside a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. So, come rain or sunshine, asteroids or tsunamis, it looks like the giant freezer is here to serve our future dietary needs.



 

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