If glaciers could talk, they’d have quite a story to tell. Just imagine the narrative that the iconic Athabasca Glacier could spin for an audience. A story of glory days in the 1800s, reaching clear across the valley and spreading its influence north and south. A story of recession and diminished size, as the mercury soared and the river of ice allowed the passage of trails and eventually, the Icefields Parkway.

While the glaciers of western Canada may not be able to sit us down on their frigid toes to tell these tales, scientists are able to use the evidence provided by glaciers to trace the saga of climate change in the past several hundred years. Now, a wide-ranging project will seek to do just that.

The Western Canadian Cryospheric Network will examine the links between climatic change and glacier fluctuations in western Canada for the next several years.

“Glaciers provide windows into past and present behavior of the climate in the North Pacific region since they are well distributed in western Canada and are sensitive to changes in precipitation and temperature. Glaciers are also important for western Canada since they serve as frozen reservoirs of freshwater,” writes lead researcher Brian Menounous on the project’s website.

Menounous is an assistant professor of geography from the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, but this project is hardly limited to UNBC. The team of researchers involved represent six Canadian unversities (UBC, UVic, the U of C and U of A, SFU and UNBC) as well as Western Washington University and the University of Washington stateside. Each of the principal partners brings a specific research focus and particular expertise to the project, which is already in its initial phases.

The first stage of the project is to evaluate historical data and imagery and compare the extent of western Canada’s glaciated terrain over the past 400 years. At the same time, researchers will document present and past climate variability in the “North Pacific” area. This information will be used to detail contemporary meteorological and climate processes and their importance for glacier growth or recession. Finally, the group will model potential changes in glacier cover and glacier runoff based on possible future climate conditions. This aspect of the project is of particular significance to Canada’s long-term climate change planning, as increased glacier melt is generally anticipated to be a major motivating factor for large increases in the sea level. Other possible long-term impacts of substantial glacial recession on farming and water-dependent industry have been documented by University of Alberta scientist David Schindler, who once suggested that the Bow River drainage could run dry within a century if current melting rates were maintained.

While the project is still looking for Master’s and post-doctoral students to fill important research positions, there are already plans to establish monitoring stations on glaciers in the B.C. Interior and the Mount Waddington area in the Coast Range.