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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and expected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, new research has discovered.

Ancient 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 an article released last week.

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

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study published in May of the current year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are doomed to melt because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is currently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The recent study focuses on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are some of the biggest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the article states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers examined newly uncovered base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how extensively the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the glaciers have enveloped large areas of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the ice bodies experts looked at is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than previously believed. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, shows the dramatic effects of the climate change, one author of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”