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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive ice formations are vanishing and expected to dissolve completely by the start of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's glaciers are more ancient than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released last week.

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study released in May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will disappear, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Throughout the American west, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the article.

Concentration on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the biggest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining ice loss in the western region, the article states.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists looked at newly uncovered base rock around the ice formations and took samples to determine how long the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the glaciers have covered swaths of the mountain system for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and one of the glaciers experts studied is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is very abstract, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re iconic features of the American West.”