UK Launches £20 Million Greenland Mission to Probe Ice Melt Threat to Atlantic Currents
Updated
Updated · macaubusiness.com · Jul 16
UK Launches £20 Million Greenland Mission to Probe Ice Melt Threat to Atlantic Currents
3 articles · Updated · macaubusiness.com · Jul 16
Summary
Dozens of scientists left Harwich on Thursday aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough for a roughly five-week Greenland expedition using drones, mini-submarines and autonomous swimming robots.
The £20 million project will study southeast Greenland fjords up close because researchers still do not fully understand how ocean water melts glacier walls in areas too dangerous for people to approach.
British Antarctic Survey scientists aim to feed the data directly into UK climate models, which currently project disruption to the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre as early as the 2040s.
Greenland melt is also seen weakening the wider AMOC system, though scientists remain divided over how fast it is slowing and whether collapse this century is likely.
A major shutdown could bring harsher northern European winters and higher North Atlantic sea levels, making better melt data critical for climate forecasts.