The world's leading polar ice experts issued a warning Wednesday about the future of Antarctica.

Meeting at the Univeristy of Texas, the experts revealed their conclusion following months of extensive field study.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is an enormous pile of ice and snow that's about two miles thick. British researchers and their UT counterparts warn that the ice sheet is quickly moving, which means the sea level will rise and coastal areas are in danger of flooding.

"Countries like Bangladesh, states like Florida -- even Texas -- have large coastlines and significant areas where a lot of people live would be greatly impacted by that," said Jack Holt, UT Geophysics Institute.

The researchers estimate tens to hundreds of millions of people living in the world's coastal regions are at risk if ice sheets continue to move at a rapid pace.