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Far in the state of Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are disappearing and projected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s ice sheets are more ancient than earlier understood, dating back tens of 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 glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study declares.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate emergency. A study published in the month of May of this year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on track for, as up to 75% will vanish, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the biggest and probably oldest in the mountain chain. Their durability during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how long the area was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since before people inhabited North America.

California’s glaciers attained their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the glaciers experts studied is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”