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Far in the state of Sierra Nevada, massive ice formations are disappearing and expected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, new research has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than earlier understood, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the last ice age, according to an article released recently.

“Our pieced-together glacial history indicates that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Ice masses globally are at risk amid the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of the current year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the world is currently on track for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have diminished significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the biggest and likely oldest in the mountain chain. Their durability amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the study notes.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and collected specimens to determine how long the area was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered large areas of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since prior to humans occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their peak extents as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts looked at is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the dramatic impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”