A new study has revealed that Antarctica is melting from below due to rising heat from the ocean, threatening the ice shelves, accelerating sea rise and potentially causing catastrophic climate effects around the globe. The research, conducted over decades by researchers from the University of Cambridge and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, focused on the movement of a warm salty mass called the “circumpolar deep water” (CDR), which is trapped by the ice sheets over a thousand feet below the surface. Over the past 20 years, this mass has expanded and moved toward the Antarctic continental shelf, threatening to flow under the ice shelf and destabilize them. This shift in warm waters has been detected for the first time ever, leading to a record of detailed monthly snapshots over the last 40 years. The cause of this change is unclear, but researchers suggest it could be a combination of natural and human-induced climate change. The changes to deep sea heat-cosystem could also impact key ocean currents.