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Deep in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, recent studies has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than earlier understood, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study released in the month of May of this year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is presently on course for, as many as seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Across the American west, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the largest and probably most ancient in the range. Their durability during climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the west, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the area was covered by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered large areas of the mountain system for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their peak extents as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers looked at is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re iconic features of the American West.”