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Far in the state of Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away entirely by the start of the next century, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in human history, new research has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

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

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

Worldwide Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate emergency. A research published in the month of May of the current year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is currently on course for, as many as 75% will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Throughout the American west, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Key Glaciers

The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely oldest in the range. Their durability amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered swaths of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since before people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers attained their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and one of the glaciers experts looked at is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Impact

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”