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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive ice formations are disappearing and expected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's ice sheets are more ancient than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released recently.

“Our pieced-together glacial history indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since documented peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Glaciers globally are under threat during the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is currently on course for, as up to 75% will vanish, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the Western United States, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the report.

Concentration on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their durability during climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the study states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists looked at recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and collected specimens to determine how long the area was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered swaths of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets reached their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers looked at is thought to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”