(VOVworld)- Preliminary US satellite data has shown that sea ice around Antarctica has shrunk to the smallest as a result of global warming.

New research suggests that warm ocean water may be contributing to ice loss in the western part of the Antarctic, instead of rising air temperatures. (Pauline Askin/Reuters)

According to daily data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), this year, sea ice extent contracted to 2.28 million square kilometers on Monday. That extent is smaller than a previous low of 2.29 million sq km recorded on 27 February 1997. Mark Serreze, Director of the NSIDC, said he would wait for a few days’ more measurements to confirm the record low in Antarctica.

A month ago, scientists warned that a giant iceberg with an area of up to 5,000 square kilometers was likely to calve soon. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) this month was forced to move their state of the art Halley VI research station as it was threatened by the development of another crack in the Brunt Ice Shelf.

According to a joint research by the Edinburgh University and the American Geophysical Union published in last year, a key glacier in Antarctica is breaking apart from the inside out, suggesting that the ocean is weakening ice on the edges of the continent.

"Greater intensities of relatively warm, deep ocean water are accessing and rapidly melting the undersides of the ice shelves and glaciers along this coast, causing rapid grounding line retreat," the study's co-lead, Frazer Christie said.

Over the past 40 years, Antarctica’s ice area has been 1,000 square kilometers smaller. If ice in Antarctica melts into the ocean, the sea level will increase sharply threatening coastal cities.