A portion of the worlds largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall ice shelf average due to warming surface water, according to a new report that emphasizes the impact such warming has on ice melt.

Researchers studying data taken at Antarcticas Ross Ice Shelf over the last four years reported on Monday that warming ocean water thats heated by the sun is causing the rapid melting that intensifies risks of long-term rising sea levels .

The findings, which were discovered in part by researchers at the University of Cambridge, were published in the journal Nature Geoscience .