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Far in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous ice formations are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the start of the next century, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

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

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study declares.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate crisis. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on track for, as up to 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Throughout the Western United States, ice formations have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the report.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the biggest and probably most ancient in the range. Their durability amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers looked at newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how long the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have covered swaths of the range for far longer than previously known – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

The state's glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and one of the glaciers experts looked at is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to see the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental ramifications for flora and fauna. 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.”