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Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, resulting in summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's glaciers are older than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to a report published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history shows that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study states.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are under threat during the climate crisis. A research published in the month of May of the current year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on course for, as up to 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

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

Focus on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – 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 western region, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists looked at recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the region was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have covered large areas of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

The state's glaciers attained their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the glaciers researchers looked at is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, one author of the study said.

Ecological and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental 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..”