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Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s ice sheets are more ancient than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published recently.

“Our reconstructed glacial history indicates that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate crisis. A study published in May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the largest and probably oldest in the range. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists examined recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and took samples to determine how extensively the region was blanketed by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered swaths of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since prior to people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts studied is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “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 Western U.S..”