🔗 Share this article

Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are vanishing and projected to dissolve completely by the start of the next century, resulting in ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as ancient as the last ice age, according to an article released last week.

“Our reconstructed ice age record indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Glaciers around the world are at risk amid the climate crisis. A study published in May of the current year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to melt because of global heating. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is presently on course for, as up to 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the report.

Concentration on Major Glaciers

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their longevity amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the article states.

Study Techniques and Results

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and took samples to determine how long the region was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have covered swaths of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers attained their peak extents as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the glaciers researchers studied is believed to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate crisis, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has environmental ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”