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Later this year, when the Antarctic season begin once again, there is an expedition shaping up that will travel to the Antarctic Peninsula for the purpose of documenting first hand the impact that global climate change is having on the delicate ecosystem that exists there.

Adventurers Cristian Donoso and Mario Sepúlveda will set out in November to traverse the Antarctic Andes both by land and kayak, in an effort to document the changes that are taking place there. They intend to spend 80 days exploring the region, gathering enough data, photos, and video, as they cover more than 1600km (995 miles) ranging from the coastline to the highest mountain peaks. Their kayaks will serve double duty, functioning as boats on the water, and taking the place of the traditional sleds used by Antarctic explorers, while they cover more than 700km on land.

The ambitious expedition hopes to gather enough material to create both a book and a documentary film that will alert the general public about what is happening on the Antarctic Peninsula, where the temperature is rising at five times the average rate that it is elsewhere on the planet. These changes are causing the destruction of the natural habitats of the species that have adapted to live in those harsh conditions.

Cristian and Mario are no strangers to exploration by kayak. In 2007 they achieved the first successful access and navigation of Lake Greve in Chile, covering more than 2000km in the process. Donoso has also led a self-sufficient kayak expedition to Antarctica as well, and has more than 50 expeditions into Patagonia under his belt, often into regions untouched by humans.

If all goes well, this new expedition will stretch into January when they will return to Petermann Island and be retrieved by their support ship, the Antarctic Dream and returned home to Chile. In the meantime, you can read more about the expedition and their plans on their official website, which has more details on the proposed route and preparation for journey. And once they get underway, expect to have regular updates on their progress.

Good luck guys!

A new expedition is just getting underway in the Patagonia region of Chile that will send two explorers across the Hielo Sur Icecap, a large region of ice and snow in the Andes Mountains, that runs more than 400km (250 miles) into the very heart of the Torres del Paine region.

On the third of July, Linda Beilharz and Rob Rigato set off to explore the icecap, pulling their supplies behind them on sleds in much the same way as arctic explorers do. Linda is, in fact, a veteran of the Antarctic. Back in 2004 she became the first Australian woman to ski to the South Pole, and in 2007 both she and Rob made a successful traverse of the Greenland Icecap as well.

Now, the duo hopes to continue their success by ascending the Jorge Montt Glacier, head across the icecap in a south-east direction, then descend along the Upsala Glacier into Argentina along the Lago Argentino. Their intended route will take them past Volcán Lautaro and the Viedma Glacier, with Fitz Roy towering in the background, and they'll need to use boats both at the beginning and end to get access to and from the glaciers.

Linda and Rob have elected to travel in the winter in the southern hemisphere in order to avoid some of the nasty weather that Patagonia is so famous for, including gale force winds and pounding rain. But it won't be all fun in games, as snowfall tends to be heavy in the region and temperatures will be sub-zero for much of the time.

The team has already begun to send back updates from the field, and so far it has been slow, but steady, going, thanks to the crevasses on the Jorge Montt Glacier. So far, they've mostly been portaging supplies and finishing up their final prep work before they start hauling their sleds, but it looks like they should be underway shortly. You can read all of their current and future dispatches by clicking here.

Patagonia is an fascinating and beautiful place, and it is great that someone is taking an opportunity to explore it in a very different way. It should be fun to follow their progress over the next few months. Good luck Linda and Rob! Enjoy the views!