From the years 1979 to 1989, Antarctica lost approximately 40 billion tons of melting ice every year. Since 2009, Antarctica has lost almost 278 billion tons of ice per year, a new study found.  

This information means that the region is losing six times as much ice compared to four decades ago. In order to increase the global sea-level by only a single millimeter, 360 billion tons of ice is needed.  

Eric Rignot, a University of California, Irvine, ice scientist, is the lead author in a new study in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Rignot said that the difference is that his satellite-based study of East Antarctica found that its losing more than 56 billion tons of ice a year. The melting in West Antarctica and the Antarctica Peninsula are responsible for about four-fifths of the ice loss.  East Antarctica’s melting “increases the risk of multiple meter sea level rise over the next century or so,” Rignot said.  

The findings are the latest signs that the world could eventually face disastrous outcome if climate change persists. The planet will continue to warm, along with frequent droughts and heat waves, intense storms and extreme weather. Scientists have already predicted that the seas could globally rise three feet by 2100 if the population does not decrease its carbon output.