World's first museum of polar lands opens in France

As global warming reshapes the Arctic and Antarctic, a new museum built by the son of a renowned French explorer aims to show "the beauty of polar landscapes" and illustrate the consequences of climate change.

The center in eastern France is "the only permanent museum devoted to the Arctic and Antarctic in the world," said communications director Anthony Renou.

Built in the shape of a jutting iceberg and with 60 percent of its volume buried underground, the museum was conceived by anthropologist Jean-Christophe Victor - son of the French polar explorer Paul-Emile Victor - and Stephane Niveau, a naturalist.