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Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are disappearing and expected to melt away entirely by the start of the next century, resulting in summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's ice sheets are older than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the last ice age, according to an article released last week.

“Our reconstructed ice age record shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate crisis. A study published in May of this year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to melt because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on track for, as many as 75% will vanish, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the report.

Focus on Key Glaciers

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the biggest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining ice loss in the western region, the study notes.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined newly uncovered base rock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the area was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered swaths of the range for far longer than previously known – since before people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers reached their peak extents as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers looked at is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in recorded history, shows the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” 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 tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”