CANBERRA -- Australian and international scientists warn that Antarctica is facing abrupt, potentially irreversible changes to its ice, ocean, and ecosystems with catastrophic consequences.

Researchers warn the West Antarctic Ice Sheet faces collapse from rising carbon dioxide, risking a sea level rise of over three meters and threatening coastal cities globally, according to the statement released Thursday by the Australian National University (ANU).

Such a collapse would result in "catastrophic consequences for generations to come," said the study's lead author Nerilie Abram, chief scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division under the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water.

Abram, who carried out the research during her time as professor of climate science at ANU, warned that rapid changes have already been observed and will "worsen with every fraction of a degree of global warming."

Antarctic sea ice loss makes floating ice shelves more vulnerable to wave-driven collapse, said Abram, with an international team of climate scientists from Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, France, Germany and Britain.

"As sea ice is lost from the ocean surface, it is also changing the amount of solar heat being retained in the climate system, and that is expected to worsen warming in the Antarctic region," she said.

Co-author Professor Matthew England of Australia's University of New South Wales notes that these changes threaten the country with rising sea levels impacting coastal communities and a warmer, deoxygenated Southern Ocean that absorbs less carbon, worsening warming.

The collapse of Antarctic sea ice threatens emperor penguins' breeding habitats which depend on stable ice, while krill, seals, and phytoplankton also face risks from ocean warming and acidification, England said, adding another risk is the collapse of Antarctic overturning circulation, trapping vital nutrients on the seafloor and disrupting marine ecosystems.

The study stressed that Antarctic Treaty conservation efforts alone won't stop climate impacts; cutting greenhouse gas emissions to near 1.5 degrees Celsius warming is essential to prevent further abrupt changes.

The findings published in the journal Nature underscore the urgent need for governments, businesses and communities to factor rapid Antarctic changes into future climate planning.