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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are vanishing and projected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the next century, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's glaciers are older than earlier understood, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week.

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

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A research published in May of the current year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on course for, as up to 75% will vanish, leading to sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, glaciers have shrunk significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Key Glaciers

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are some of the biggest and likely most ancient in the range. Their longevity amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the study states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists examined newly uncovered base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how extensively the area was blanketed by ice. They determined that the glaciers have covered swaths of the mountain system for much longer than earlier believed – 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 one of the ice bodies experts looked at is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re iconic features of the American West.”