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

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

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

“Our reconstructed ice age record shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A study published in May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on course for, as many as 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

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

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the largest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Researchers examined recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and took samples to determine how long the region was covered by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for far longer than previously known – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers reached their maximum positions as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts studied is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than previously believed. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”