It might be the depths of winter in Antarctica but scientists say they’re seeing more signs of global warming on the frozen continent.

New satellite photos show the Wilkins Ice Shelf is even closer to breaking from the peninsula. Experts say the effects of warming there now look irreversible.

That may eventually lead to rising sea levels in more populated parts of the world.

Neal Young is a glaciologist with the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Hobart, and is scrutinising pictures from the European Space Agency.

“What we can see is a sequence of images so you can from late May through to early July, showing this ice shelf, Wilkins Ice Shelf, gradually breaking up,” he said.

“We can see large icebergs forming.

“We can see fractures forming in the shelf itself such that it is now reducing down to a slender strip of ice connecting to one island called Charcot Island, and back to another island behind it, Alexander Island.”