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Deep in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's glaciers are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to an article published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history shows that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate crisis. A research released in May of this year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on course for, as up to 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 Glaciers

The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their durability amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the west, the study notes.

Research Methods and Results

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how long the region was covered by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered large areas of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans occupied North America.

California’s glaciers attained their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts studied is thought to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”