内容摘要：Tourists observe as a polar bear walks along the shoreline of Hudson Bay, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Tourists observe as a polar bear walks along the shoreline of Hudson Bay, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Sonam Kunkhen serves tea as her husband Konchok Dorjey and daughter Jigmet Dolma eat dinner inside their home in Kharnakling near Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)Dorjey’s eldest daughter, 21-year-old Rigzen Angmo, has visited Kharnak only twice. “I would like to visit there once in a while. Just that. There is not much for me there,” said Angmo who is an undergraduate business commerce student.

The other lot, mostly young, are largely apathetic. Most of them want to do anything but shepherd animals high in the mountains. Many of them are working in government offices, run their own businesses or do menial jobs with the Indian military.Sitting on bank of a brook in Kharnak, Dorjey said he can’t take the nomad out of himself.“It was the hardest decision in my life to leave my village. My soul is still here,” he said. But he also acknowledged he was thinking less and less of returning as “urban life has possessed and softened me.”

“On practical terms also, Kharnakling has better food and health facilities. Weather is not as harsh,” he said.Follow Aijaz Hussain on Twitter at twitter.com/hussain_aijaz

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative

. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Jennifer sits with her daughter Girlie, 4, at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Ashley Tom is excited by the arrival of the last Newtok residents in Mertarvik. Although their home will be different than what they’ve known for most of their lives, she’s confident they will come to appreciate it as she has.“I really love this this new area, and I just feel whole here,” she said.

Thiessen reported from Anchorage.This story was first published on Sep. 26, 2024. It was updated on Sep. 28, 2024 to correct the number of villages facing infrastructure damage from erosion, 144 not 114. It also corrects the name of the organization that authored the Unmet Needs report, and where Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer works as the director of climate initiatives. It is the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, not the Alaska Native Travel Health Consortium.