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Far in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to dissolve completely by the start of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's glaciers are older than earlier understood, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report released last week.

“Our pieced-together glacial history indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Risk to Glaciers

Glaciers globally are at risk amid the climate emergency. A study released in May of this year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is presently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will disappear, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Across the Western United States, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying ice loss in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how extensively the area was blanketed by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have covered large areas of the range for far longer than previously known – since before humans inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the glaciers experts studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than previously believed. The loss of ice formations, for the first time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”