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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous glaciers are vanishing and expected to dissolve entirely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report released recently.

“Our reconstructed ice age record shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study published in the month of May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the planet is currently on track for, as up to 75% will disappear, leading to sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the article.

Concentration on Key Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the largest and probably oldest in the mountain chain. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the region was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have covered swaths of the range for much longer than previously known – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

California’s glaciers attained their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers studied is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the study said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”