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

Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive ice formations are disappearing and projected to dissolve completely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in recorded human existence, new research has discovered.

Ancient Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

The range's glaciers are older than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as old as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released last week.

“Our reconstructed ice age record indicates that a coming glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in the history of humankind since documented peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the study states.

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Ice masses around the world are under threat amid the climate crisis. A research released in the month of May of this year determined that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the planet is currently on track for, as up to seventy-five percent will disappear, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Across the American west, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

The new research centers on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely most ancient in the mountain chain. Their durability during climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Findings

Scientists looked at newly uncovered bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how extensively the area was covered by ice. They determined that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since prior to humans inhabited North America.

California’s glacial sheets reached their peak extents as early as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers stated, and a particular of the glaciers researchers studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The loss of glaciers, for the first time in recorded history, shows the profound impacts of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the initial ones to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the principal investigator. “This has environmental implications for plants and animals. And it’s a representational decline. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are concrete. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”

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05 Nov 2025

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

Ancient Origins of Sierra Range Ice Masses

Global Risk to Ice Formations

Focus on Key Ice Bodies

Study Techniques and Findings

Ecological and Representational Impact

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