article_snippet: (CNN)Scientists have raised concerns about a large, rapidly thinning glacier in East Antarctica, warning CNN)Scientists could contribute significantly to rising sea levels.
article_snippet: They say They've discovered two openings that could channel warm seawater to the base of the huge Totten Glacier and bring the threat of potentially disastrous melting.
article_snippet: Totten Glacier is bigger and thinning faster than all the others in East AntarcticaEast Antarctica.
article_snippet: Totten Glacier contains enough ice to raise the global sea level by at least 11 feet (3.4 meters), according to researchers from the University of Texas at Austin who were among the authors of a new study published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.
article_snippet: Scientists had previously detected warm water on the seaward side of Totten Glacier.
article_snippet: We now know there are avenues for the warmest waters in East Antarctica to access the most sensitive areas of Totten Glacier," said Jamin Greenbaum, a University of Texas Ph.D. candidate and the lead author of a new study published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.
article_snippet: The two gateways on the seafloor that lead to the base of the huge Totten Glacier offer an explanation for why Totten Glacier has been melting so fast.
article_snippet: Scientists have already warned about the consequences of melting ice in East Antarctica.
article_snippet: NASA said last year that glacial retreat in some areas "appears unstoppable.
article_snippet: The increase in sea levels that would be caused by the melting of all the ice in Totten Glacier is estimated to be roughly equivalent to the contribution from a collapse of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
article_snippet: While the Totten melt may take several centuries, once change has begun our analysis reveals it would likely be irreversible," Greenbaum said in comments cited by the Australian Antarctic Division.
article_snippet: To prevent the process from becoming unstoppable, atmospheric and oceanic conditions would need to change so that snowfall outpaces coastal melting, the researchers said.
highlights_snippet: New study reveals openings that threaten huge glacier with warm water .
  
highlights_snippet: Totten Glacier is bigger and thinning faster than all the others in East Antarctica .