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Far in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous glaciers are disappearing and expected to dissolve entirely by the start of the coming hundred years, resulting in summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's glaciers are older than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to a report published recently.

“Our reconstructed glacial history indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Global Threat to Ice Formations

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of the current year found that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on course for, as up to 75% will disappear, leading to sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have shrunk substantially 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 glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are some of the biggest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during global heating makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the article notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Researchers examined newly uncovered bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have covered large areas of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since before people occupied North America.

The state's glaciers reached their peak extents as early as 30,000 years ago, the study's researchers stated, and one of the ice bodies experts studied is believed to have expanded 7,000 years ago, sooner than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the initial time in human history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to see the ice-free peaks,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is highly intangible, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the American West.”