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Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive ice formations are vanishing and projected to dissolve entirely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s ice sheets are older than earlier understood, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the last ice age, according to an article released recently.

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

Global Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A research published in the month of May of the current year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7C, which the planet is currently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Throughout the Western United States, ice formations have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the report.

Focus on Key Glaciers

The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying ice loss in the western region, the article states.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists looked at recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the area was covered by glacial ice. They determined that the glaciers have covered large areas of the mountain system for much longer than previously known – since before people inhabited North America.

California’s glaciers reached their peak extents as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the glaciers experts looked at is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the study said.

Ecological and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”