The Southern Antarctic Peninsula is losing its thickness at an unusually fast rate. This is alarming news as the region was once covered with thick layers of ice, reported The Benchmark Reporter.

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Scientists discovered last week that Larsen B and C, ice shelves in the Antarctic, were threatened, with Larsen B's ice shelf mostly collapsed since 2002. What remains of Larsen B may not last past 2020, according to researchers. Meanwhile, though the Scotland-sized Larsen C appears more stable than what remains of Larsen B, it was now discovered to be at "imminent risk" after researchers found a rift in the ice shelf increasing in mass.

The latest study on the melting Antarctic ice shelf, published in the latest edition of Science magazine, was conducted by an international group of scientists run by the University of Bristol in Britain.

On Thursday, the scientists from Bristol and others from Germany, France and the Netherlands, reported that the glaciers farther south from Larsen B and C, located in the Southern Antarctic Peninsula region, were also retreating.

The latest report on melting Antarctic ice sheets were measured for years through a suite of satellites from an altitude of 700km that sends a radar pulse to Earth. The pulse, reflected by ice, is received back by the satellite. The Grace satellite from US' space agency also cross-checked the latest study and has confirmed it, reported to Pioneer News.

Because of the rapid ice melting in the Antarctic, scientists said the ice from Antarctica is contributing a major amount to "rising sea level," which is caused by global warming and the thinning of the atmosphere's Ozone.

In fact, the thinning ice in Antarctica has been a common theme in the region. In nearby West Antarctica, a region containing more ice, a similar mechanism as the melting Antarctic ice shelves was hypothesized.

It has recently been estimated that the region in Antarctica with the melting glaciers about 2.6 to 2.9 millimeters contribute around .16 millimeters to rising sea level each year. Globally, about 2.6 to 2.9 millimeters of sea water rises annually. The measure of .16 millimeters may seem small, but in fact is quite a lot, with the new study calling it "a major fraction of Antarctica's total oceanic contribution," according to The Washington Post.

Indeed, the latest study is alarming, but a far greater worry remains. Ice shelves and glaciers West Antarctica and East Antarctica, if melted, will contribute to sea level rise in feet or meters, not merely centimeters or inches like in Antarctica.

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