Glacier Thawing Is Set to Ice-Free Peaks in California for First Instance in Human History

Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are disappearing and expected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are more ancient than earlier understood, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week.

“Our reconstructed glacial history shows that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article declares.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are at risk during the climate crisis. A research released in May of the current year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is currently on track for, as up to 75% will disappear, causing ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

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

Concentration on Major Ice Bodies

The new research centers on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and probably most ancient in the range. Their durability during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the western region, the article states.

Research Methods and Results

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how extensively the area was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since prior to people occupied North America.

California’s glaciers reached their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the glaciers researchers studied is thought to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, shows the dramatic impacts of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”