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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous ice formations are vanishing and projected to dissolve entirely by the start of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, tracing back many thousands of years, with some as old as the last ice age, according to an article released recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since known peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Glaciers globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A research published in the month of May of this year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on course for, as many as 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have shrunk significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The new research centers on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely most ancient in the range. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the western region, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists looked at newly uncovered bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the region was blanketed by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered large areas of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since prior to people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts studied is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound effects of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re iconic features of the American West.”