An armed guard stands outside the entran

An armed guard stands outside the entrance to a seed vault on February 24, 2008 near Longyabyen. Aimed at providing mankind with a Noah's Ark of food in the event of a global catastrophe, an Arctic "doomsday vault" filled with samples of the world's most important seeds will be inaugurated here on Fenbruary 26. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Nobel Peace Prize winning environmentalist Wangari Matai will be among the personalities present at the inauguration of the vault, which has been carved into the permafrost of a remote Arctic mountain, just some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the North Pole. AFP PHOTO/ Hakon Mosvold Larsen / Scanpix - NORWAY OUT (Photo credit should read Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AFP via Getty Images)