Scientists say that global warming is causing huge glaciers in Antarctica to melt at a rapid pace, which could cause the sea level to rise more than a meter.

According to researchers, the melting of the glaciers may be "unstoppable," and result in drastic sea level changes in the Antarctic oceans centuries from now, reports Slate.

A glacial region in western Antarctica has already passed "the point of no return," stated the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

"The collapse of this sector of West Antarctica appears to be unstoppable," said Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine, according to Bloomberg News.

NASA researchers predict that the glaciers, which are located in the Amundsen Sea region, contain enough water to raise global sea levels by 4 feet or 1.2 meters. Back in September, United Nations researchers said sea levels have already risen by 7.5 inches since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800's, and may rise an additional 26 to 98 centimeters ninety years from now.

"This sector will be a major contributor to sea level rise in the decades and centuries to come," Rignot said. "A conservative estimate is it could take several centuries for all of the ice to flow into the sea."

Rignot told The Guardian: "A large sector of the western Antarctic ice sheet has gone into a state of irreversible retreat. It has passed the point of no return. This retreat will have major consequences for sea level rise worldwide."

Scientists say that because the glaciers have become extremely thin, they are floating in areas where they used to be grounded. Plus, masses of ice are flowing faster toward the sea, resulting in more thinning.

"The thinning we are seeing is not just some temporary trend. It is really the beginning of a larger scale collapse that is likely to play out over a two to 10-century range," said Ian Joughin, a University of Washington glaciologist.