GREENLAND — The GIANT expedition, a U.K.-funded scientific mission, is scheduled to launch on July 16. The expedition will study Greenland ice loss and its impact on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

The U.K. Advanced Research and Invention Agency provided 20 million British pounds in funding for the GIANT expedition, which stands for Greenland Ice sheet to AtlaNtic Tipping points from ice loss. The Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough will serve as the mothership for the mission and will operate near the Kangerlussuaq fjord glaciers in southeast Greenland during July and August.

During the expedition, researchers plan to deploy drones, sensors, and submarines to study glacier-ocean interactions. The autonomous submarine Boaty McBoatface is part of the fleet. Helicopters will be used to drop GPS-enabled sensors shaped like javelins onto glacier surfaces, and a surface robotic boat equipped with sonar will track changes in glacier melt rates. Two types of seafaring robots, measuring 1 to 5 meters in length, will dive hundreds of meters below the surface to map submerged glacier melt.

The expedition also plans to conduct measurements at the Petermann glacier in northwest Greenland the following summer. Data collected from the GIANT expedition will be used to update the U.K. Earth System Model, and the initiative aims to develop an early warning system for changes in glacier behavior.

Jonathan Nash, an oceanographer at Oregon State University and a member of the GIANT project, said, "Ice cliffs tower above the ocean surface — sometimes 30 meters high, sometimes 100 — fracturing, collapsing and launching house-sized icebergs into the fjord with little warning." Kelly Hogan, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, stated, "We're in a moment where our tools have finally caught up with our questions."

An interruption of the AMOC would make Europe colder and drier and would shift tropical monsoons. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the AMOC is weakening. Kristin Poinar, an earth scientist at the University at Buffalo, stated, "The AMOC relies on dense, salty ocean water to sink, and too much freshwater from icebergs will slow or stop that process."