India's Desert Salt Farmers Feel The Heat From Climate Change By Abhaya SRIVASTAVA 04/15/21 AT 12:43 AM Roshni Thakor left school to harvest salt from a sun-baked Indian desert, a backbreaking trade practised by her ancestors for centuries but now threatened by climate change. For eight months every year, farmers toil in scorching heat to pump out briny water from handmade wells in a sparse corner of western Gujarat state. Unpredictable rainfall, rising temperatures and frequent dust storms have made it harder for salt farmers in India to eke out a living Photo: AFP / SAM PANTHAKY A tonne of the resulting salt crystals fetches the meagre sum of 300 rupees ($4.00), but unpredictable rainfall, rising temperatures and frequent dust storms have slashed yields, and made it harder for Thakor and her family.