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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous glaciers are vanishing and projected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The range's glaciers are older than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week.

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

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are under threat during the climate crisis. A study released in the month of May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to thaw because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is currently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Throughout the Western United States, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the biggest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the article states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how long the region was blanketed by ice. They determined that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since before people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers reached their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and one of the glaciers researchers studied is believed to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. 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..”