A new study says that no matter how much the world cuts back on greenhouse gases, a large and important part of ice of Antarctica（南极洲）is expected to disappear.
Researchers used computer models to expect the future melting（融化）of protective ice around Antarctica' s Amundsen Sea in western Antarctica. They said the melting will take hundreds of years. It will slowly add nearly 1. 8 meters to sea levels. And it will be enough to change where and how people live in the future.
The study found that even if future warming was limited to just a few tenths of a degree more, it would have limited power to prevent ocean warming that could lead to the breakdown of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Study lead writer Kaitlin Naughten is an expert on oceans at the British Antarctic Survey. She said their research suggests that Earth is set on the path to a quickly increasing speed of ocean warming and ice shelf melting over the rest of the century.
While past studies have talked about how serious the situation is, Naughten was the first to use computer modeling to study how warm water from below will melt the ice. The study looked at four different cases in how much greenhouse gases the world produces. In each case, ocean warming was just too much for this area of the ice to survive.
Naughten looked at floating areas of ice that hold back glaciers（冰川）. Once these areas of ice melt, there is nothing to stop the glaciers behind them from flowing（流）into the sea.
The study also looked at what would happen if future warming was limited to 1. 5 degrees Celsius over mid-19th century levels：the international goal. They found the rapid melting process in this case as well.
The world has already warmed about 1. 2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times and much of this summer went past the 1. 5 degrees mark.
