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Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are disappearing and projected to dissolve completely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The range's ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report published recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article declares.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are under threat during the climate emergency. A research published in May of this year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to melt because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the planet is currently on course for, as many as 75% will vanish, leading to ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Key Glaciers

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are among the largest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the study notes.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the area was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since before humans inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets attained their peak extents as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the glaciers experts looked at is believed to have grown 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational 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. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”