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Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are disappearing and expected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The mountain range’s glaciers are older than earlier understood, tracing back many thousands of years, with some as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released last week.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in human history since known settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Worldwide Threat to Ice Formations

Ice masses globally are at risk during the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of this year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on course for, as many as 75% will vanish, causing ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Across the American west, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the biggest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the west, the article states.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists examined newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to ascertain how long the area was blanketed by ice. They found that the glaciers have covered swaths of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since before people inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the glaciers experts studied is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Symbolic Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”