Capre himalayane, cashmere e clima

2 Novembre 2022 di Redazioneweb

I cambiamenti ambientali sconvolgono la vita delle popolazioni himalayane

Nomadic women milk their hardy Himalayan goats that produce cashmere in the remote Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. As this part of Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change, shifting weather patterns are altering 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. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A glacier sits on a mountaintop on the way to remote Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. In the remote Himalayan region, glaciers are melting fast while still villagers largely depend on glacial runoff for water. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A group nomads rest as others work outside their homes on a bright sunny day in remote Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Konchok Dorjey now lives with his wife, two daughters and a son in Kharnakling, where scores of other nomadic families from his native village have also settled in the last two decades. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Indian army vehicles move in a convoy in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. The ongoing military standoff between India and China has witnessed deployment of tens of thousands of additional soldiers to the already militarized region and has led to massive infrastructure development in recent years. (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)

Konchok Dorjey walks through his remote native Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Dorjey now lives with his wife, two daughters and a son in Kharnakling, where scores of other nomadic families from his native village have also settled in the last two decades. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Konchok Dorjey holds his daughter Jigmet Dolma inside their home in Kharnakling near Leh town in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. The family now lives where scores of other nomadic families from his native village have also settled in the last two decades. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Animal skulls are displayed atop a mud house, meant to ward off evil spirits, in the remote Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Konchok Dorjey now lives with his wife, two daughters and a son in Kharnakling, where scores of other nomadic families from his native village have also settled in the last two decades. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

The home of Konchok Dorjey, sits locked in the remote Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Dorjey now lives with his wife, two daughters and a son in Kharnakling, where scores of other nomadic families from his native village have also settled in the last two decades. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

I cambiamenti climatici hanno impatto ovunque nel pianeta, anche negli angoli più sperduti che non fanno mai notizia su tv e social, come lo sperduto villaggio di Kharnak, nella fredda regione desertica del Ladakh, in India. Qui, le donne nomadi himalayane hanno il compito di provvedere alle capre, il cui pelo prezioso è alla base della produzione della richiestissima fibra tessile del “cashmere”.

Questa parte dell’Asia, però, è particolarmente vulnerabile ai cambiamenti meteorologici che stanno rendendo sempre più difficile la vita delle popolazioni, a causa di inondazioni, frane e siccità. Il paesaggio, inospitale ma incontaminato, è un susseguirsi di passi di alta montagna e vaste valli fluviali: in passato era una parte importante della famosa rotta commerciale della Via della Seta. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)