Glacier Thawing Is Set to Ice-Free Summits in California for First Time in Human History

Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, enormous ice formations are vanishing and expected to dissolve completely by the start of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the initial occasion in human history, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Range Glaciers

The range's ice sheets are older than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article published last week.

“Our pieced-together ice age record shows that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Worldwide Risk to Glaciers

Ice masses globally are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study published in May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of ice sheets are doomed to thaw because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7C, which the world is currently on course for, as many as 75% will disappear, causing ocean level increase and mass displacement.

Across the Western United States, glaciers have diminished significantly since they were first documented in the 1800s, according to the report.

Focus on Key Glaciers

The new research centers on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are among the biggest and probably oldest 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 Results

Scientists looked at recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the area was covered by glacial ice. They found that the glaciers have covered large areas of the mountain system for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America.

California’s glaciers attained their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors stated, and one of the glaciers experts studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of ice formations, for the first time in human history, shows the profound effects of the climate crisis, one author of the study said.

Ecological and Symbolic Impact

“We’ll be the first to see the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the Western U.S..”