Glacier Thawing Will Lead to Glacier-Less Summits in California for First Instance in Recorded History

Deep in California’s Sierra mountain range, massive glaciers are vanishing and expected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the coming hundred years, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has found.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The mountain range’s glaciers are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to a report published last week.

“Our pieced-together glacial history shows that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since known settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the article states.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are at risk amid the climate emergency. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that almost forty percent of glaciers are doomed to thaw because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on course for, as up to 75% will disappear, leading to sea level rise and large-scale relocation.

Across the Western United States, ice formations have diminished significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the report.

Concentration on Key Ice Bodies

The new research focuses on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Palisade, Lyell, Maclure and Conness ice sheets – that are some of the largest and probably most ancient in the mountain chain. Their longevity during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Research Methods and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how extensively the region was blanketed by glacial ice. They determined that the glaciers have enveloped large areas of the range for far longer than earlier believed – since prior to people occupied North America.

The state's glacial sheets reached their maximum positions as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and a particular of the glaciers experts looked at is thought to have expanded seven thousand years ago, sooner than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, demonstrates the dramatic effects of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to witness the glacier-less summits,” said Andrew Jones, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for flora and fauna. And it’s a representational decline. Global warming is highly intangible, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re iconic features of the American West.”