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Far in the state of Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the last ice age, according to a report released last week.

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

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Ice masses globally are at risk amid the climate emergency. A study published in the month of May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to melt because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will disappear, leading to ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have shrunk significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the largest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the study states.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined newly uncovered bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have covered swaths of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since before humans inhabited North America.

The state's glaciers reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”