High in India’s Himalayan Mountains, Yak Herders Struggle to Survive a Warming World

Yak herders in India’s Himalayas face shrinking pastures as climate warms

Yak herders in Ladakh, India, say hotter temperatures and erratic snowfall are depleting grasslands and driving young people away from a centuries-old livelihood.Dar Yasin and Sibi Arasu report for The Associated Press.In short:Temperatures in Ladakh have risen about 3 degrees Celsius over four decades, worsening droughts and heat waves that stress yaks and reduce vegetation.The region’s yak population dropped from nearly 34,000 in 2012 to fewer…

High in Himalayan mountains, Ladakh's yak herders struggle to survive a warming world

Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall in the area have made it harder for yaks to find nourishing vegetation and have also exposed the shaggy, cold-loving an

High in India's Himalayan mountains, yak herders struggle to survive a warming world

In India's remote Ladakh region, rising temperatures and erratic weather are making the wind-swept plains less hospitable to yaks and endangering the livelihoods of herders who have raised the shaggy animals for generations.

High in India’s Himalayan mountains, yak herders struggle to survive a warming world

In India’s remote Ladakh region, rising temperatures and erratic weather are making the wind-swept plains less hospitable to yaks and endangering the livelihoods of herders who have raised the shaggy animals for generations.

High in India’s Himalayan mountains, yak herders struggle to survive warming world

LADAKH, India — Carrying her 1-year-old son on her back, Tsering Dolma herds a dozen yaks into a stone-walled corral as evening approaches in the desolate mountains of India’s remote Ladakh region.