A new study in the journal Science has found that the Antarctic ice sheet is melting so fast it is contributing to the rise in global sea levels. 

The first ever satellite study of the continent’s ice inventory has revealed that Antarctica is releasing around 35 cubic miles of water into the sea each year, which equates to an increase in sea levels of 0.4mm a year. “This is the first study to indicate the total mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet is in significant decline,” argues Isabella Velicogna of the University of Colorado at Boulder.