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The Svalbard Global Seed Vault had its first birthday on Feb.26, an anniversary it celebrated by receiving 90,000 new samples of seeds．The Vault is a repository(储藏室)of samples from national seed banks across the globe-almost every country in the world has one．Their purpose, of course, is to back up native plant varieties．If climate conditions change, or a disease threatens crops currently in use, plant breeders can go to seed banks to try to grow new crops．The seed diversity preserved in these banks can mean the difference between feast and famine．
But these banks tend to be located in developing countries, where budgets are tight and conditions are less than stable．One disaster-like the invasion of Iraq, in the aftermath(不幸事件)of which a seed bank containing ancient varieties of wheat was destroyed-and seeds can be lost forever, often before scientists even know what they have．“That's like burning books before we open them,”says Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust．
Svalbard is the best help－or, as Fowler calls it, the“Noah's Ark of seeds”．The Vault stands on the far northern Norwegian island of Longyearbyen, where the Arctic cold would help keep the seeds viable(能发育的)if the eletricity that powers the vault's cold storage should fail．(Seeds can remain dormant but usable for centuries if they're kept cool and dry．)The location isn't an accident－should something truly horrific happen, from extreme climate change to nuclear war, remote Svalbard should remain protected, and capable of restarting global agriculture．“It's a kind of insurance policy,”says Fowler．
But it's not just a plan B in case of global catastrophe．Fowler believes that global warming will take a toll on agriculture．To keep growing food, we'll need to make use of crop varieties better equipped to resist heat and drought; breeders sifting through(筛选)Svalbard's unparalleled collection of seeds today may descover tomorrow's crops．“This isn't just a time capsule,”says Fowler．“It's a living institution, built to address individual catastrophes, as well as golbal ones．”
