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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to dissolve entirely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s glaciers are more ancient than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the last ice age, according to an article published last week.

“Our reconstructed ice age record indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since known peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are at risk amid the climate crisis. A study published in the month of May of this year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the planet is currently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Across the American west, glaciers have diminished substantially since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely oldest in the mountain chain. Their durability during global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the study states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how long the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the mountain system for much longer than previously known – since before people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets attained their peak extents as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the glaciers researchers looked at is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the profound effects of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to see the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”