Ice Sheet Melt Is Set to Glacier-Less Summits in the Golden State for First Time in Recorded History

Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving summits without glaciers for the initial occasion in human history, new research has found.

Ancient Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, tracing back many thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to a report released recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study states.

Worldwide Threat to Glaciers

Ice masses around the world are at risk during the climate emergency. A study released in the month of May of this year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are destined to thaw because of climate warming. If this warming increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is currently on course for, as many as 75% will disappear, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the Western United States, ice formations have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Major Ice Bodies

The new research centers on four Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the largest and probably most ancient in the range. Their longevity during global heating makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the study states.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how long the region was covered by ice. They determined that the glaciers have covered swaths of the range for far longer than previously known – since prior to people occupied North America.

California’s glaciers attained their maximum positions as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the ice bodies experts looked at is thought to have grown seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the initial time in human history, shows the profound effects of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Environmental and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has environmental implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Global warming is very abstract, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”