According to a statement from the University of Leeds, the Antarctic ice sheet is now losing 159 billion tons of ice each year. Amazingly, this figure is twice as much as when it was last surveyed.

Researchers utilized measurement gathered by the ESA’s CryoSat-2 satellite mission to create the first complete estimate of Antarctic ice sheet elevation change.

The data reveals that, overall, the pattern of imbalance continues to be dominated by glaciers thinning in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica.

On average West Antarctica lost 134 gigatons of ice, East Antarctica three gigatons, and the Antarctic Peninsula 23 gigatons in each year between 2010 and 2013.

According to researchers, the ice losses detected by CryoSat-2 are enough to raise global sea levels by 0.45mm each year alone.

“We find that ice losses continue to be most pronounced along the fast-flowing ice streams of the Amundsen Sea sector, with thinning rates of between 4 and 8 meters per year near to the grounding lines of the Pine Island, Thwaites and Smith Glaciers,” noted lead author Dr. Malcolm McMillan from the University of Leeds.

Recently, scientists concluded that a cluster of six glacier in the Amundsen Sea region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet have passed “the point of no return,” meaning that the total collapse of the glaciers cannot be stopped.