NEW YORK (AP) — If you live in a

Former nomad Dawa Tundup sits inside a mosquito net along with his wife Tashi Lamo outside their home in Kharnakling village near Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)Former nomad Dawa Tundup sits inside a mosquito net along with his wife Tashi Lamo outside their home in Kharnakling village near Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Dorjey pointed out that the village in recent years had received considerable attention as authorities built some prefab huts for nomads and spruced up animal feed facilities. But he said he was skeptical by experience that such facilities would stop migration.“There are some facilities that were not there when I was living here. But there are also some other regressive changes that have occurred,” Dorjey said.The worst, he said, is unpredictability of the weather and shortage of water in recent years.

Many of Kharnak’s pasturelands have become barren owing to unusual weather in recent years. And the multiple glaciers that covered the surrounding high peaks have shrunk drastically in last two decades causing water shortages, the shepherds said.“Few small ones that rested on mountain peaks in my years of nomadic life have now almost entirely disappeared,” Dorjey said pointing to a barren mountain range in Kharnak.

Dubbed as a part of water tower of Asia, Ladakh is home to thousands of glaciers, including Siachen glacier that is the longest outside the Polar region. Some of the region’s glaciers also feed the Indus Basin Irrigation System, one of the world’s largest that services India and China and considered a lifeline for agricultural land in Pakistan.

But they are receding at an alarming rate, threatening the water supply of millions of people.When Father Spyridon spent his longest period ever away last year – about five months, for surgeries – his eventual return was the talk of the towns. After he resumed his visits to tiny chapels and family-run coffee shops with the help of a gnarled walking stick, old and young alike rushed to greet him.

Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon of Amorgos, center, talks with islanders after the Divine Liturgy in the chapel of Panagia Evangelistria, in Amorgos island, Greece, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon of Amorgos, center, talks with islanders after the Divine Liturgy in the chapel of Panagia Evangelistria, in Amorgos island, Greece, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon of Amorgos, right, Father Antonis and other faithful leave the chapel of Panagia Evangelistria, after participating in Divine Liturgy in Amorgos island, Greece, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon of Amorgos, right, Father Antonis and other faithful leave the chapel of Panagia Evangelistria, after participating in Divine Liturgy in Amorgos island, Greece, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)