内容摘要：— whether it’s extreme heat waves, increased risk of crop failures, forest fires or bleaching coral reefs— already happening.”

— whether it’s extreme heat waves, increased risk of crop failures, forest fires or bleaching coral reefs— already happening.”

Raju, left, meets his father Jaidul Islam after his school bus dropped him near his home in a poor neighborhood in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)The children were born in a low-lying village, flanked by the Himalayas and the river. Like many parts of northeastern India, it was no stranger to heavy rains and naturally occurring floods.

But their father, Jaidul Islam, 32, and mother Pinjira Khatun, 28, knew something had changed. The rains had become more erratic, flash floods more frequent and unpredictable. They were among the estimated 2.6 million people in the Assam state affected by floods the year they decided to move to Bengaluru, a city of over 8 million known as India’s Silicon Valley.Homes are surrounded with floodwater from the River Brahmaputra, in Assam, India, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo)Homes are surrounded with floodwater from the River Brahmaputra, in Assam, India, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo)

https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/f7f5f75/2147483647/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1486x991!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fb8%2F72%2Fab17ecb245e54663d32c224d6e01%2Fc5c35f374a654c38a4a1ae7928603fa7The two packed what little they could salvage into a large suitcase they hoped to someday fill with new belongings. “We left home with nothing. Some clothes for the kids, a mosquito net, and two towels. That was it,” said Islam.

The suitcase is now filling up with school exercise books — and the parents, neither with any formal education, said their lives center on ensuring their kids have more opportunities. “My children will not face the same problems that I did,” the father said.

Jaidul Islam, left, sits with his wife Pinjira Khatun, right, and their children Jerifa Islam, second left, and Raju inside their home in a poor neighborhood in Bengaluru, India, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Sonam Kunkhen, left, her husband Konchok Dorjey, center, daughters Jigmet Dolma, right, and Rigzen Angmo pose for a picture inside their home in Kharnakling near Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Sonam Kunkhen, left, her husband Konchok Dorjey, center, daughters Jigmet Dolma, right, and Rigzen Angmo pose for a picture inside their home in Kharnakling near Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)As this region in Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change, shifting weather patterns have already altered people’s lives through floods, landslides and droughts in Ladakh, an inhospitable yet pristine landscape of high mountain passes and vast river valleys that in the past was an important part of the famed Silk Road trade route.

Frequent loss of livestock due to diseases, lack of health care, border conflict and shrinking grazing land — worsened by extreme climatic changes — has forced hundreds to migrate from sparsely populated villages to mainly urban clusters in the region known for its sublime mountain landscape and the expensive wool.In the remote Himalayan region, glaciers are melting fast while still villagers largely depend on glacial runoff for water.