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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Glaciers

The range's ice sheets are older than earlier understood, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the last ice age, according to an article released recently.

“Our pieced-together glacial history shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study released in the month of May of this year determined that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on track for, as up to 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have shrunk significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are among the biggest and likely oldest in the range. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Researchers examined recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the area was covered by glacial ice. They found that the glaciers have covered swaths of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans occupied North America.

California’s glaciers reached their maximum positions as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the ice bodies researchers studied is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re iconic features of the American West.”