🔗 Share this article Ice Sheet Thawing Is Set to Glacier-Less Peaks in California for First Instance in Human History Far in California’s Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and projected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has found. Ancient Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, dating back tens of 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 indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states. Global Risk to Glaciers Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study released in the month of May of the current year determined that nearly 40% of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the world is currently on course for, as up to seventy-five percent will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement. Across the American west, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article. Focus on Major Ice Bodies The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely oldest in the mountain chain. Their durability amid global heating makes them “bellwethers” for studying ice loss in the west, the article notes. Study Techniques and Results Researchers examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how long the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans occupied North America. California’s glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors stated, and a particular of the ice bodies researchers looked at is believed to have grown seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, shows the dramatic effects of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said. Ecological and Representational Impact “We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the American West.”