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Far in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are vanishing and projected 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 Ice Masses

The mountain range’s ice sheets are older than earlier understood, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the most recent glacial period, according to a report released last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Ice masses globally are under threat amid the climate crisis. A study released in the month of May of the current year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the planet is presently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

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

Concentration on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying ice loss in the western region, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists examined newly uncovered bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the region was covered by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since before humans occupied North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their peak extents as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the glaciers experts looked at is believed to have expanded seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, one author of the investigation said.

Environmental and Symbolic Consequences

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