Most of Antarctica’s Ice melt is occurring from the bottom up and is driven by warm ocean waters.  The findings of this new research are changing the conventional wisdom about Polar Ice Melt.

Before this study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Science, it was suspected that much of Antarctica's ice loss was the result of icebergs splitting apart and falling into the sea.

The Study’s lead author is Dr. Eric Rignot of the University of California At Irvine.  In a statement, he says, “We find that iceberg calving is not the dominant process of ice removal. In fact, ice shelves mostly melt from the bottom before they even form icebergs. 

“This has profound implications for our understanding of interactions between Antarctica and climate change.  It basically puts the Southern Ocean up front as the most significant control on the evolution of the polar ice sheet.”

Ice shelves are attached to 44 percent of the Antarctic coastline.  But Ringot and his team found that the shelves were losing ice much faster than they could replace it.