The entrance-way to a subterranean arctic ‘seed vault’ has been revealed today, with Dr. Cary Fowler of the Global Crop Diversity Trust claiming it to be “as striking as the Sydney Opera House.” 

It isn’t.

The seed bank, being built on the Norwegian arctic island of Svalbard, is designed to house a sample of every species of crop and preserve them at -18C, to prevent their extinction and the subsequent food shortages that may result as the Earth’s climate continues to change.

The entrance is positioned, high on the slopes of an ice-coated mountain over looking the town of Longyearbyen, so that even if all the ice-caps melt, it will still be 50 metres above sea level. We won’t be however.

Svalbard, which lays within the arctic circle, is home to only 2000 people, all of whom share their land with the natives: hundreds of polar bears. Good luck getting the seeds out.

This is all well and good, if a little depressing. Already people are preparing for ‘the end of the world’ (or rather ‘the end of the tortilla chip’) and this whole project reminds me of those patriotic nutters Louis Theroux once interviewed, living in the wastes of northern Montana and waiting for the ‘Ruskies’ to strike.

The design itself, which is supposedly “striking”, resembles the boiler room of a council estate leisure centre. Apparently, the door-way into the underground store will come represent hope for an uncertain future, at least until some ‘Asbo-kid’ comes along and tags it.

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Keywords: ASBO, Earth, Norway, Seeds, Svalbard, Sydney Opera House, Underground