The indirect effect is that it can "pre-condition" the ice shelves that float at the edges of the ice sheet.

BBC: West Antarctic Ice Sheet warming twice earlier estimate

He splashed over to the foot of the stairs and looked up at a ladder of water coming down, a scrim of ice on the edges like a mountain stream.

NEWYORKER: Idols

"A race is going on in Greenland between these competing forces of snow build-up in the interior and ice loss on the edges, " explained Dr Zwally.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Polar ice sheets show net loss