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Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are vanishing and projected to melt away completely by the start of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's glaciers are older than earlier understood, tracing back many thousands of years, with some as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released last week.

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

Worldwide Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are at risk amid the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on track for, as up to seventy-five percent will disappear, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Across the American west, ice formations have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the largest and likely oldest in the mountain chain. Their longevity amid global heating makes them “indicators” for studying ice loss in the west, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Researchers examined newly uncovered bedrock around the ice formations and took samples to determine how extensively the region was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the mountain system for much longer than previously known – since prior to humans occupied North America.

The state's glaciers reached their peak extents as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and one of the glaciers researchers studied is thought to have grown 7,000 years ago, earlier than previously believed. The loss of ice formations, for the first time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”