By Susanna TwidaleHARWICH, England, July 15 (Reuters) – An international team of around 80 scientists and crew will set sail on polar research ship the RSS David Attenborough for Greenland this week to investigate whether the island’s rapidly melting glaciers could disrupt a major Atlantic Ocean current system and with it Europe’s climate.The five- to six-week mission departs Britain after the country and Western Europe just experienced the warmest June months on record, disrupting power supplies, shutting schools and causing excess deaths.AdvertisementAdvertisement”The heat waves in the UK and in Europe the last few months have really driven home that it’s difficult for us to adapt to even quite small changes in our climate,” Kelly Hogan, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey which is leading the mission, told Reuters in an interview on board the vessel.The expedition is part of a £20 million project called GIANT – Greenland Ice sheet to AtlaNtic Tipping points – which seeks to understand how the glaciers melt and break into the ocean and the impact this has.Scientists are concerned that the melting freshwater could disrupt a system of rotating ocean current that helps to regulate Europe’s climate, which could lead to more extreme weather and rising sea levels.Ship Captain Matt Neill, who made his first trip to Antarctica as a cadet with BAS in 2011, said he has already witnessed first hand the impact of the world’s chang …
