Millions of years ago, Antarctica had a tropical climate and was warm as California and Florida. Today, it is almost entirely covered by layers of thick ice, but a separate environment still remains underneath.
Using airborne radar and satellite technology, scientists have mapped a series of lakes and rivers that form a wetland-like area beneath the ice, whose structure still influences the flow of water from Antarctica, and indirectly the rise (and fall) of the sea-level.
There are an estimated 400 lakes underneath the Antarctic glaciers.
