Baffin Island has a diverse topography. There are flatlands with sparse vegetation, where sedges and lichen grow among the rocks. There is a mountainous region with peaks as high as 7,040 ft (2148m) above sea level (Mount Blanche). Its eastern coast has rugged sea cliffs and fjords, such as the Pangnirtung Fjord (pictured right). Such high-ground areas become particularly dangerous with the effects of global warming because of the increasing risk of mudslides and avalanches.
Baffin Island also has year-round ice in the forms of glaciers and two ice caps, the Barnes Ice Cap and the Penny Ice Cap. The expedition team will cross the Barnes Ice Cap, a remnant of the last Ice Age, which has been in retreat since at least the 1960’s.

Underneath Baffin Island is a layer of permanently frozen ground, called permafrost . It is basically frozen peat marsh. As it thaws, it disrupts infrastructure, damaging roads and bridges. Buildings are sinking into the ground. But the risk of melting permafrost has a greater catastrophe in store for the rest of the world – it releases methane gas, which further speeds up the rate of warming.

Sources:

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment