Global Disaster, the Ultimate Crop Backup System

"Spotted owls and humpback whales grab headlines, but plant life is under siege as well — even fruits and vegetables that humans have been growing for millennia are dying out. One study of more than 8,000 crop varieties grown in the US in 1903 found that only 600 remained by 1983. The solution? A Noah's ark for seeds. Last February, the Norwegian government unveiled plans for the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a fortress for up to 3 million seed varieties on a remote island 600 miles from the North Pole."

"The project is the first comprehensive effort to protect the world's agricultural gene pool."

http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/m...-06/ff_seedbank