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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous ice formations are vanishing and projected to dissolve completely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in 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 older than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with some as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to a report published last week.

“Our reconstructed ice age record shows that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since known settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A research published in the month of May of the current year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7C, which the planet is currently on course for, as up to 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 report.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are some of the biggest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the article states.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how extensively the region was blanketed by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered swaths of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people inhabited North America.

California’s glaciers reached their peak extents as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and one of the ice bodies researchers studied is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to see the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”