Rare are the birds that do not fly: the cassowary, ostrich, emu, penguin to name but a few. However, the Aldabra rail is by far the strangest of them all. This species of bird owes its name to the Aldabra Atoll, an area of the Seychelles archipelago lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It was here that this species perished about 136,000 years ago, when a rise in sea levels submerged its unique habitat.
Changes in the oceans and frozen regions are the subject of a special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, published on the 25th of September, calls for ambitious measures and highlights “the ever-increasing risks of inaction”.
The icebreaker Polarstern departed from the Norwegian port of Tromsø on Friday the 20th of September for a new scientific mission around the North Pole. Around 600 experts will take turns on the ship, covering 2,500 kilometres in 390 days.
