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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are vanishing and projected to dissolve completely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Range Glaciers

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with some as old as the most recent glacial period, according to a report released last week.

“Our reconstructed ice age record indicates that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are under threat during the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of this year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the world is presently on course for, as up to 75% will vanish, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Across the American west, glaciers have shrunk significantly since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity amid global heating makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the western region, the article states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers examined newly uncovered base rock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how long the region was blanketed by ice. They found that the glaciers have enveloped large areas of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since before people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers attained their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the ice bodies researchers studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”