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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The range's glaciers are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to a report published recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Risk to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are under threat amid the climate crisis. A study released in May of the current year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will disappear, leading to ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Throughout the Western United States, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying ice loss in the west, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Researchers looked at newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how long the region was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered large areas of the range for far longer than previously known – since before people inhabited North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the glaciers experts studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”