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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the last ice age, according to an article published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history indicates that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are under threat during the climate emergency. A study published in May of this year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is currently on track for, as up to seventy-five percent will disappear, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Across the American west, glaciers have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the report.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the largest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during global heating makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists examined newly uncovered base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered large areas of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to people inhabited North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and one of the glaciers researchers looked at is believed to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, one author of the study said.

Ecological and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”