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Deep in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are disappearing and projected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the next century, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, recent studies has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Glaciers

The mountain range’s ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to an article released last week.

“Our pieced-together glacial history indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since known peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate crisis. A research released in the month of May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to melt because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on course for, as many as 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the largest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the study states.

Research Methods and Results

Researchers examined newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how extensively the area was blanketed by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered swaths of the range for far longer than previously known – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and one of the glaciers researchers studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”