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Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive ice formations are vanishing and projected to melt away entirely by the start of the next century, resulting in summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's glaciers are older than previously known, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since known peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers globally are at risk amid the climate crisis. A research released in the month of May of the current year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are destined to thaw because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world 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, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the biggest and likely most ancient in the range. Their durability during global heating makes them “indicators” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Scientists examined newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how long the region was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have covered large areas of the mountain system for much longer than previously known – since before people occupied North America.

California’s glaciers reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts looked at is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, shows the profound effects of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”