🔗 Share this article

Far in the state of Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Range Glaciers

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

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Glaciers around the world are at risk amid the climate emergency. A research published in the month of May of the current year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to melt because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on track for, as up to 75% will vanish, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Across the American west, ice formations have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably oldest in the range. Their durability during global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining ice loss in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed base rock around the glaciers and collected specimens to ascertain how long the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since before humans occupied North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the glaciers experts studied is thought to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, shows the profound effects of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”