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Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the start of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, recent studies has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since known settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are under threat during the climate emergency. A study published in the month of May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to thaw because of global heating. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is currently on track for, as up to 75% will disappear, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Across the Western United States, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining ice loss in the west, the article states.

Research Methods and Results

Researchers looked at recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the area was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the glaciers have enveloped large areas of the range for much longer than previously known – 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 a particular of the ice bodies experts studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in recorded history, shows the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, one author of the study said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”