Recent studies on Antarctic glaciers have found the region is reaching a tipping point where glacial melting will accelerate and become irreversible, even if global heating eases.
A NASA-funded study found instability in the Thwaites glacier, part of the West Antarctic ice sheet, meant it would likely reach a point where it was impossible to stop it flowing into the sea, shedding ice faster than previously expected and triggering a 50cm sea level rise.
A separate study last week found Antarctica had lost as much sea ice in the past four years as the Arctic lost in 34 years, with the cause of the abrupt melting yet to be established.