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Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away entirely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

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

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article declares.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are at risk amid the climate crisis. A research published in the month of May of this year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the world is presently on track for, as many as 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

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

Focus on Key Glaciers

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the western region, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists looked at recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to determine how long the area was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the range for much longer than previously known – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets attained their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the ice bodies experts studied is believed to have grown 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound effects of the climate change, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”