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Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the next century, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, recent studies has found.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's glaciers are older than earlier understood, 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 glacial history indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Risk to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study released in the month of May of the current year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is currently on course for, as many as 75% will vanish, leading to sea level rise and mass displacement.

Throughout the Western United States, ice formations have shrunk significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Concentration on Major Glaciers

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the largest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Researchers looked at newly uncovered base rock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the area was blanketed by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have covered swaths of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

The state's glaciers attained their peak extents as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the glaciers researchers looked at is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to witness the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re iconic features of the American West.”