Climate change is real and the threat is already seen. According to scientists at institutions in the United States and Australia, the rapid melt of Totten Glacier, one of the world's largest glaciers in East Antartica, is due to a warmer ocean water that reached the glacier from below this month. 

Previously, scientists also spotted a cavity where warm water entered in Totten glacier, WashingtonPost reported.

The study, published in Science Advances on Friday, concluded how vulnerable the East Antartic glacier to warmer water, as quoted by ABC.

Steve Rintoul, lead author of the study, stated that it was such a significant achievement for scientists as they were able to confirm the hypothesis that ocean heat helps glacier melt more quickly. He added that it had not been known why Totten glacier is melting faster until the research was conducted.

Furthermore,  Rintoul said researchers need to be able to predict the Totten glacier's  behaviour in the near future, as the glacier possesses adequate sea ice to increase global sea levels by about 3.5 metres (if it melts completely).

The goal of the research is to help find clues on the future change in sea level, he added.

Meanwhile a team of 30 researchers and technicians is planning to go back to the glacier to discover clues on what controls the amount of warm water arriving there and the passageways that pave the way for warm water to reach the glacier. They departed from Hobart, Tasmania on December 8 and  are expected to get to the glacier in late December.

They come from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (ACE CRC), CSIRO, the University of Tasmania, and the Australian Antarctic Division.

Totten has been one of the most interesting subjects as what is happening there can provide solutions to the Earth's mysteries.