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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the beginning of the next century, resulting in summits without glaciers for the first time in human history, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s ice sheets are older than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to a report released recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Ice Formations

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate emergency. A research published in May of this year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7C, which the world is presently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the American west, glaciers have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are among the biggest and likely most ancient in the range. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for studying ice loss in the western region, the study states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists looked at recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how long the region was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the range for far longer than previously known – since prior to people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the ice bodies experts studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The loss of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the dramatic effects of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first 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 highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”