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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

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

“Our pieced-together glacial history shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented peopling 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 crisis. A study published in the month of May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If this warming rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on course for, as up to 75% will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are among the largest and probably oldest in the mountain chain. Their longevity amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the article states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists looked at newly uncovered base rock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered large areas of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the glaciers researchers looked at is believed to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the dramatic effects 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 principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”