Vast icy rock peaks tower above Argentina's Carlini research base in Antarctica. But scientists who have worked here for decades say the glaciers are less icy than they once were.

A powerful winter storm battered Europe on Friday, killing one woman and leaving 330,000 homes without power in France as flights and train services were canceled and coastal areas put on flood alert.

The United Nations has warned of an oil spill south of the Iraqi city of Mosul, near the town of Qayara that was retaken from Islamic State militants some four months ago.

The warnings came in a report released this week on environmental damages caused by oil fires intentionally started by retreating IS militants.

Leading Russian ecological campaigner Alexei Yablokov, the founder of Greenpeace Russia and one of the pioneers of the post-Soviet environmental movement, has died at 83, the Russian Academy of Sciences said Wednesday.

Sydney sweltered through scorching temperatures topping 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, with beaches packed, bushfire warnings issued and people urged to stay hydrated.

Six people died in Poland over a 24-hour period as temperatures plunged across Europe, bringing the toll of hypothermia deaths in the country to 71 since November, authorities said Tuesday.

Police urged people to aid those most vulnerable to hypothermia, especially the homeless, as the mercury sank to below minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in some regions. 

A cold snap gripping Europe has killed 10 more people in Poland, stranded thousands in snow-covered Turkey and brought fresh misery for both migrants and the homeless.

Heavy snowfall in Istanbul paralyzed traffic and grounded hundreds of flights for a third straight day Monday, while the Bosphorus closed to shipping traffic.

Heavy snow blanketed Istanbul for a second day on Sunday, resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights and more disruption for thousands of travelers.

A reported pause in global warming between 1998 and 2014 was false, according to US-British research published Wednesday that confirmed the findings of a controversial US study on ocean warming.