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Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the beginning of the next century, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Glaciers

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

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article declares.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are under threat during the climate emergency. A research released in May of this year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will disappear, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Throughout the American west, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably oldest in the range. Their durability amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the study states.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the region was covered by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered swaths of the mountain system for much longer than previously known – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and a particular of the glaciers researchers looked at is thought to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in recorded history, shows the profound effects of the climate change, one author of the study said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”