A glacier baby is born: Mating glaciers to replace water lost to climate change

A view of the Pakistani territory of Baltistan from the heights of the mountain above the village of Chunda. The patches of white in the foreground are snow and water. The patches of silver in the distance are clouds that shroud the peaks of most mountains in Baltistan. The territory boasts towering peaks, including K2, the world's second highest mountain. (Diaa Hadid/NPR)

CHUNDA, Pakistan – A farmer and a village leader in Pakistan's highlands decided it was time to try to make a glacier baby.

This ancient ritual that calls for mixing chunks of white glaciers, which residents believe are female, and black or brown glaciers (whose color comes from rock debris), which residents believe are male.