🔗 Share this article

Far in the state of Sierra mountain range, massive ice formations are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The range's ice sheets are more ancient than earlier understood, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the last ice age, according to a report published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Risk to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are under threat amid the climate crisis. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that almost forty percent of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is presently on course for, as up to 75% will disappear, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have diminished significantly since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the article.

Concentration on Key Glaciers

The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the largest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the study states.

Study Techniques and Results

Researchers examined recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how extensively the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered large areas of the mountain system for much longer than earlier believed – since before people inhabited North America.

The state's glaciers attained their peak extents as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the ice bodies researchers studied is believed to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”