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Far in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are disappearing and expected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s ice sheets are older than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published recently.

“Our pieced-together glacial history indicates that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are at risk during the climate emergency. A study released in the month of May of this year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on course for, as many as seventy-five percent will vanish, causing ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

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

Concentration on Major Glaciers

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the largest and likely most ancient in the range. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the study notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists looked at recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the region was covered by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for far longer than previously known – since before people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the glaciers experts looked at is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in human history, shows the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Symbolic Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”