Supply Lines

Arctic Doomsday Vault Stashes More Seeds for Future Food

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Svalbard Archipelago, Norway.Photographer: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP

In the Arctic wilderness sits a vault built to help withstand potential apocalyptic impacts of climate change. It just received one of the biggest deposits in its 16-year history.

Instead of money or gold, the contribution was something that could prove much more valuable to mankind. More than 30,000 samples of crop seeds from 21 countries were delivered this week to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Norway's Spitsbergen island.