Antarctic ice is now melting at twice the rate it was in the years leading up to 2011, data from the last three years has shown, suggesting the polar continent will contribute more to global sea level rise than previously thought.

The report, entitled Antarctica’s Ice Losses on the Rise, was carried out by a team of scientists from the U.K. Center for Polar Observation and Monitoring, and led by researchers at the University of Leeds.

The scientists have produced the first complete assessment of Antarctic ice sheet elevation change based on data from the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite, which showed that the continent is now losing 159 billion tons of ice each year.

“The increasing contribution of Antarctica to sea level rise is a global issue, and we need to use every technique available to understand where and how much ice is being lost,” Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey said.

"Prediction of the rate of future global sea-level rise must begin with a thorough understanding of current changes in the ice sheets — this study puts us exactly where we need to be."