The Antarctic ice sheet is melting in a new, worrying way that scientific models used to project future sea level rise have not taken into account, suggesting current projections could be significantly underestimating the problem, according to a new study.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey found that warm ocean water is seeping beneath the ice sheet at its "grounding line" — the point at which the ice rises from the seabed and starts to float — causing accelerated melting which could lead to a tipping point, according to the report published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

A tipping point refers to the threshold at which a series of small changes accumulate to push a system beyond a point of no return.

Tap the link in bio for more.

📸 : Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images