Editorial | Environment | Glacier | Climate
i
LEAVING HOME - A Himalayan village confronts the spiritual reckoning of climate change // Little can tear at the heart more than the decision to abandon the place of your ancestors. But as a Himalayan glacier melts above them, pragmatic Zanskari farmers and pastoralists have decided to uproot their 1,000-year-old village beside a now-drying stream. In the absence of drastic reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, their decision may foretell the fate of millions of people dependent on high-mountain water everywhere, from Pakistan to California. To those populations, the villagers offer striking lessons: acknowledge your vulnerability, act decisively, keep the spirits of the old place with you, rebuild with cheerful resignation (and passive solar houses) —and above all, take responsibility for the impact of your way of life, before more damage is done.
