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Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's ice sheets are older than earlier understood, dating back many thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report published recently.

“Our reconstructed ice age record indicates that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are at risk amid the climate emergency. A research released in May of the current year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of global heating. If such heating rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on track for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Concentration on Major Glaciers

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably most ancient in the range. Their durability amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the west, the study states.

Research Methods and Findings

Researchers examined recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and collected specimens to determine how long the region was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have covered swaths of the mountain system for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their peak extents as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and one of the glaciers researchers studied is believed to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The loss of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, shows the profound effects 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 study’s lead author. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”