In the largest research project of its kind, a group of Canadian and U.S. scientists plan to probe glaciers from B.C. and Alberta in a new effort to determine the effects of climate change over the past 400 years.

They hope to discover whether knowledge of a glacier's past can help predict its future, said University of Northern B.C. geography professor Brian Menounos with the newly formed Western Canada Cryospheric Network.

He said glaciers are useful because they contain historical information about winter precipitation and summer temperatures.

"First and foremost, we hope to use these glaciers as natural archives of past climate change," he said.

"They're certainly very sensitive indicators of climate variability and climate change."

Glaciers now cover 10 per cent of British Columbia, providing water and hydro power through their river runoff. But the glaciers are in retreat because of global warming.

The scientists plan five years of fieldwork as researchers try to predict what changes in the weather could mean for the West's vast supplies of frozen water over the next century.

The network includes university professors from B.C., Alberta, and Washington state along with government scientists and researchers from B.C. Hydro and the Columbia Basin Trust.