Residents of Indonesia's capital on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the government over the toxic levels of air pollution that regularly blanket the city.

A rare total solar eclipse plunged a vast swath of Latin America's southern cone into darkness Tuesday, briefly turning day into night and enthralling huge crowds in much of Chile and Argentina.

Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Chile's northern Coquimbo region near the Atacama desert -- festooned with some of the planet's most powerful telescopes -- which was situated directly on the eclipse's 100-mile-wide "path of totality."

After mysteriously expanding for decades, Antarctica's sea ice cover melted by an area four times greater than France in just a few years and now stands at a record low, according to a study published Monday.

As climate change worsens, growing heat stress on workers in agriculture and other sectors will cause a productivity loss equal to 80 million full-time jobs over the next decade, the UN warned Monday.

A report from the International Labour Organization estimated that in 2030, 2.2 percent of total working hours worldwide will be lost because of higher temperatures. 

New Zealand officially banned single-use plastic shopping bags Monday, introducing hefty fines for businesses that continue to provide them.

Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heatwave continued across the continent. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that the G20 would sign a similar deal on climate change to that agreed at the last meeting in Argentina, where the United States was isolated.

"We will have a similar text to Argentina. A 19+1 declaration," Merkel told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Osaka.

Temperatures in France are expected to reach a record-breaking high on Friday, as Europe continues to endure a sweltering heatwave which sparked an out-of-control wildfire in Spain. 

Governments warned citizens to take extra precautions, with the week-long heatwave causing a build-up of pollution and fears of an increase in emergency calls across Europe. 

Europe's record-breaking heatwave was forecast to intensify  Thursday, with authorities on alert as temperatures threaten to surpass 40 degrees Celsius in some regions.

German police cautioned a man riding naked on a moped while topless sunbathers sparked a row in Munich, as temperatures were to soar to record highs in several European countries Wednesday.