Polar explorer and educator Will Steger plans to lead a 1,400 mile international dogsled expedition across ellesmere Island in April.

In the 2008 installment of Global Warming 101, a series of expeditions designed to raise awareness of global warming, Steger will lead six people, aged 21 to 26 in the footsteps of legendary explorers and visit ice shelves that have either collapsed or are on the brink of collapse.

The expedition will travel over northern Ellesmere, an area that has undergone significant warming, to document the effect of climate change on the island. These changes include the major break-up of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf in the summer of 2002, and the calving of the Ayles Ice Shelf in August 2005.

Using the historical perspective of other crossings in expedition journals and photos, including Robert Peary’s in 1906, Steger’s team will retrace historical routes to examine how conditions have changed as a result of global warming. Canadians who are taking part in the expedition are Eric McNair-Landry, 23 and Sarah McNair-Landry, 21, both of Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Nunavut.