The research is the first to model the effects of warm water underneath Antarctica's western ice sheets.
A study published Monday finds parts of Antarctica's ice shelves are expected to melt in the coming years, now matter how much progress is made to slash greenhouse emissions and mitigate global warming.
The new research investigated what would happen to the critical ice shelves that protect the Antarctic interior from the surrounding ocean. If these shelves melt, glaciers further inland stand to eventually melt and slide into the ocean. "Our simulations suggest that we are now committed to the rapid increase in the rate of ocean warming and ice shelf melting over the rest of the century," said lead author Kaitlin Naughten, an oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey.The study doesn't measure how much ice might melt, or how quickly, or what effect it may have on sea levels.
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