🔗 Share this article Glacier Melt Will Lead to Ice-Free Summits in California for First Instance in Recorded History Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous glaciers are vanishing and expected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, new research has found. Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses The range's ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week. “Our reconstructed ice age record shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states. Global Threat to Ice Formations Glaciers around the world are at risk amid the climate crisis. A research published in the month of May of this year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the world is currently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will disappear, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation. Across 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 recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the biggest 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 study notes. Research Methods and Findings Researchers examined recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and took samples to ascertain how extensively the area was blanketed by glacial ice. They found that the glaciers have enveloped swaths of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since prior to people inhabited North America. California’s glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the ice bodies experts studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, one author of the study said. Ecological and Symbolic Consequences “We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”