Arctic ‘doomsday vault’ opens to retrieve vital seeds for Syria
Svalbard, Norway (CNN)Humanity has had to cash in on its insurance policy earlier than expected.
Deep in the side of a mountain in the Arctic archipelago is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Coined the “Doomsday Vault,” this bank operated by the Norwegian government is meant to be humanity’s back-up in the event of a devastating catastrophe that decimates crops.
But that was not what caused scientists to have to dip in and make a withdrawal. Rather, it was because of the most preventable of manmade disasters — war.
Death, devastation and unimaginable brutality has become the hallmark of the bitter civil war ravaging Syria. In the midst of one of the most contested areas in Aleppo sits a treasure trove of food crop genetic material made inaccessible by war.