United States president Barack Obama will go into the wild to get a “crash course in survival techniques” from insect-eating British adventurer Bear Grylls, television producers said.

Mr Obama has left the White House for Alaska, where he hopes to highlight the impact of climate change and test his survival skills alongside Grylls.

Mr Obama will appear on an upcoming episode of Running Wild With Bear Grylls, television network NBC said.

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Grylls, a former special air service trooper, has boasted that he has pushed celebrities like New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet “beyond their limits”.

Tasks they have been given include eating mice, jumping out of planes and crossing desert canyons — activities that the Secret Service would not normally allow the president to tackle.

Mr Grylls served in the elite SAS regiment in the UK. Photo: Getty

As long as I’m president, America will lead the world to meet the threat of climate change before it’s too late.

His appearance on the show, which will air later this year, is just the latest in a series of White House efforts to reach new audiences.

Climate change is a hot-button issue in the US, with many Republicans expressing doubts that human actions are truly influencing temperatures.

By visiting glaciers and vulnerable fishing communities, Mr Obama hopes to put those doubts to bed, as he tries to build support for an international pact to curb warming.

He has called global warming “one of the greatest challenges we face this century”.

“What’s happening in Alaska is happening to us,” Mr Obama said before leaving Washington.

“It’s our wake-up call. And as long as I’m president, America will lead the world to meet the threat of climate change before it’s too late.”

Mr Obama has just imposed, much to the chagrin of his Republican opponents in Congress, strict standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

US is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and has committed to a reduction of 26-28 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 compared to 2005.

Alaska is often just a fuel stop for US presidents headed for Asia. But Mr Obama will spend three days in The Last Frontier and become the first sitting US president to visit the Alaskan Arctic.

Many in Alaska, which became America’s 49th state in 1959, fear Mr Obama has forgotten the economic difficulties they face.