Ice Sheet Thawing Will Lead to Glacier-Less Peaks in the Golden State for First Time in Human History

Deep in the state of Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are disappearing and expected to dissolve entirely by the beginning of the next century, resulting in summits without glaciers for the first time in human history, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s ice sheets are older than previously known, dating back many thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report released last week.

“Our pieced-together glacial history indicates that a coming ice-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers globally are under threat amid the climate emergency. A study published in the month of May of the current year found that nearly 40% of ice sheets are destined to melt because of global heating. If this warming rises by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on course for, as many as 75% will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the American west, glaciers have diminished substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the report.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the biggest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during climate warming makes them “indicators” for examining ice loss in the west, the article notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Researchers looked at recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and collected specimens to determine how long the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the glaciers have covered large areas of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets attained their peak extents as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and a particular of the glaciers researchers studied is believed to have expanded seven thousand years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the profound impacts of the climate crisis, a researcher of the study said.

Environmental and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the principal investigator. “This has ecological implications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is highly intangible, but these glaciers are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”