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Deep in the state of Sierra Nevada, massive ice formations are disappearing and expected to dissolve entirely by the start of the next century, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are more ancient than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the most recent glacial period, according to a report released recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are under threat during the climate emergency. A study released in May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on track for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Throughout the American west, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the study states.

Research Methods and Findings

Researchers examined recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and took samples to ascertain how long the area was covered by ice. They determined that the glaciers have enveloped large areas of the range for far longer than previously known – since prior to people inhabited North America.

The state's glaciers attained their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the glaciers experts studied is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate crisis, one author of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”