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One of the largest glaciers on the planet, Totten, is melting due to ocean warming, a phenomenon that demonstrates the vulnerability of East Antarctica and its role in increasing the level of the oceans. The Totten glacier, 120 km long and 30 km wide, is one of the largest glaciers on the planet and also one of the least understood glacier systems, Steven Rintoul, head of a scientific expedition that is measuring the waters below the ice cap, told Efe news agency. The Australian scientist clarified that these are the first measurements of temperatures of the waters that surround Totten, located about 3,200 km south of the Australian island of Tasmania, and it therefore would be premature to imagine a link with climate change. Rintoul said that "East Antarctica is potentially more vulnerable to changes in the ocean driven by climate change than we used to think", and can contribute to the rise in the level of oceans in a manner still unknown. Satellite images had already proved that Totten was melting, but the study led by Rintoul demonstrated the hypothesis that warm waters are melting it from its foundations.