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Deep in the state of Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's ice sheets are older than earlier understood, dating back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the last ice age, according to a report released recently.

“Our reconstructed glacial history shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers globally are at risk amid the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is currently on course for, as up to 75% will vanish, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the Western United States, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the largest and likely most ancient in the range. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Scientists looked at newly uncovered bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how extensively the region was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for much longer than previously known – since prior to people occupied North America.

California’s glaciers reached their maximum positions as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers studied is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”