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October 23, 2015
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The Cable News Network is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The 24-hour cable news channel was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner. The Cable News Network is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The 24-hour cable news channel was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner.
But this isn't a Bond bad-guy's hideout. Instead it is home to something that could help save the world in the wake of environmental catastrophe: Seeds.
Millions and millions of seeds are stored here, deep beneath the icy permafrost of Svalbard, midway between Norway and the North Pole, and well out of reach of warfare and rising sea levels.
"This vault is built for humanity to survive," explains Michael Koch, from the Crop Trust, leading us along a tunnel, into the Global Seed Vault.
Svalbard was chosen to house the vault because it is geologically stable, and because, despite its remoteness, regular scheduled flights make it relatively accessible.
"It is like a holy place," says Koch, standing in the vast space, carved into the side of a mountain. "Every time I come here I feel like I'm in a cathedral. This is a place to pause and to think. It's a unique place, a very important place for humanity."
At the end of the tunnel, a heavy metal door glints beneath a coat of ice; on the other side, the key to mankind's salvation in a post-apocalyptic world.
This is our insurance policy 837,931 samples an estimated 556 million seeds in total though new shipments are arriving all the time stored at a constant temperature of -18 degrees Celsius 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent them degrading.
The permafrost creates a natural refrigerator even if the power failed, the temperature inside would eventually stabilize at 8 degrees Celsius 17.6 degrees Fahrenhei low enough to keep the vault's precious contents safe for decades.
