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Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous ice formations are disappearing and expected to melt away completely by the start of the next century, resulting in ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s glaciers are more ancient than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week.

“Our pieced-together glacial history shows that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since known settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are under threat during the climate crisis. A study published in the month of May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is presently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their durability during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining ice loss in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how long the area was covered by glacial ice. They determined that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the range for much longer than previously known – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and a particular of the glaciers researchers studied is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, shows the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, one author of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. 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..”