Ice Sheet Melt Is Set to Ice-Free Peaks in California for First Time in Recorded History

Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive ice formations are vanishing and expected to dissolve entirely by the start of the next century, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, recent studies has found.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than earlier understood, dating back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report published recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a coming 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 Glaciers

Glaciers globally are under threat during the climate crisis. A research published in May of this year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will vanish, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement.

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

Concentration on Major Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the largest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists 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 enveloped swaths of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their maximum positions as early as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the glaciers researchers studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than previously believed. The disappearance of ice formations, for the initial time in human history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Consequences

“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 flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is highly intangible, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”