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Glaciers melt water irrigation urbanization and globalization disaster mitigation Aditi Mukherji climate change
20 January 22
Pakistan
In a northern region of Pakistan, a landscape marked by snow-capped mountains and
glaciers, Indigenous customs used to access meltwater have long enabled subsistence. The
people of the Hunza Valley (the Hunzakutz) once solely depended on the land and its
natural resources, with glacial meltwater forming a principal connection between
communities and the environment. These traditional lifeways are currently threatened by
climate change and globalization, while rapidly changing gender roles are also
transforming the livelihoods of those living in Hunza and other upper Indus River valleys.
There are, however, indications that the Indigenous traditions of the Hunzakutz
population will prevail despite the external forces of change.
Columbia Climate School