🔗 Share this article Glacier Thawing Will Lead to Ice-Free Summits in California for First Instance in Recorded History Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive ice formations are vanishing and projected to dissolve completely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, new research has discovered. Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, tracing back many thousands of years, with some as old as the last ice age, according to a report released last week. “Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future 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 Risk to Glaciers Ice masses globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A research released in the month of May of the current year found that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will disappear, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement. Across the Western United States, glaciers have diminished substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the report. Concentration on Major Ice Bodies The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness glaciers – that are among the biggest and likely most ancient in the range. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the western region, the article notes. Research Methods and Results Researchers examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the region was covered by glacial ice. They found that the glaciers have covered swaths of the mountain system for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America. The state's glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and one of the ice bodies experts studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, shows the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said. Environmental and Symbolic Consequences “We’ll be the initial ones to see the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”