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Where Is the World's Largest Seed Vault?

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Quick Answer

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen, Norway, can store up to 4.5 million seed samples.

The Full Story

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is built into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, Norway, about 1,300 km from the North Pole. Opened in 2008, it serves as a global backup for the world's crop diversity, storing duplicate seed samples from gene banks worldwide. The vault can hold up to 4.5 million seed varieties (about 2.5 billion seeds) and currently stores over 1.3 million samples from every country with a gene bank. The permafrost and thick rock provide natural freezing, supplemented by refrigeration to −18 °C.

Key Facts

1.The vault was accessed for the first time in 2015 to retrieve seeds for a Syrian gene bank damaged by war.
2.Seeds are stored in sealed foil packets inside sealed boxes on shelving.
3.The facility is designed to withstand nuclear war, asteroid strikes, and rising sea levels.

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"The Doomsday Vault — Safeguarding Humanity's Food Supply"

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