Physically, it is virtually impervious to disaster. Earthquakes, such as the 6.2 magnitude quake that struck nearby in February, cannot damage the underground bunker as its steel and reinforced concrete structure is even strong enough to withstand a direct nuclear strike to the mountain. Time, too, will cause minimal harm-Global Crop Diversity Trust’s executive director Cary Fowler expects the vault’s life span to rival the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The vault uses a series of electric cooling units and enormous fans to maintain its constant zero-degree temperature. In the event of mechanical failure, however, its depth below the arctic permafrost would keep the vault cold enough to ensure adequate conservation for multiple years, even presuming the most drastic climate change-related temperature increases.
Human-instigated sabotage is almost equally unlikely. The remoteness of Svalbard, a Norwegian island chain located about 600 miles from the North Pole, is one of the seed bank’s greatest safeguards. The closest community to the vault, Longyearbyen, has a population of 2,000, which easily makes the sparsely populated mining community the metropolis of the archipelago. By contrast, the islands are home to an estimated 3,000 polar bears, which if the armed security guards, steel doors, air locks and video surveillance all fail, can presumably provide a final line of defense against would-be trespassers.
I think it’s safe to say that, no matter what, we’ll always have seeds.