Melting glaciers in the Antarctic

It took a while but scientists have concluded that several glaciers on the southern Antarctic Peninsula suddenly began shedding ice in 2009. This has resulted in 72 cubic miles of water being dumped in the ocean since then. Here's where this is happening.

The scientists think that ocean warming—and not warmer air temperatures or a lack of snowfall—explains the ice loss. "The bedrock on which they sit is below sea level. As the region’s ice shelves continue to thin (they have lost one-fifth of their mass in the last 20 years), warm water pushes inland from below, causing the glaciers to melt from underneath, thus speeding their demise."