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Far in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in human history, recent studies has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

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

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are under threat during the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of the current year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on course for, as up to 75% will vanish, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably oldest in the range. Their durability amid global heating makes them “indicators” for studying ice loss in the west, the study states.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists looked at recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how extensively the area was covered by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the range for much longer than previously known – since prior to humans occupied North America.

The state's glaciers reached their maximum positions as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers looked at is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see 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 representational decline. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”