CLIMATE

1 Why most of the world’s deserts are located in the Western margins of continents in the sub
topics?
Ans Most of the world’s deserts are located in the Western margins of continents in the sub tropics because
the prevailing winds in the tropics are tropical easterly winds ie North East trade winds in the northern
hemisphere and south east trade winds in the southern hemisphere. These winds become dry by the time
they reach the western margins of the continents and so they bring no rainfall. Thus, the region becomes
devoid of moisture which causes dry conditions leading to formation of deserts,
2 Why does India have monsoon type of climate?
Ans The occurrence of seasonal reversal of wind system makes India’s climate monsoon type. In summer,
the winds blow from sea to land and bring rainfall whereas in winter winds blow from land to sea which
remain dry.
3 ‘Seasonal reversal of wind direction takes place over the Indian sub- continent.’ Give reason.
Ans Seasonal reversal of wind direction can be understood by the following points
 During summer a low pressure belt develops over interior Asia as well as over
Northwestern India which attracts monsoon winds.
 Air moves from the high-pressure area over the southern Indian Ocean, in a south-easterly
direction, crosses the equator, and turns right towards the low-pressure areas over the Indian
subcontinent.
 With the reversal in the direction of surface winds, the monsoons withdraw from the Northern
plains. This reversal occurs as the monsoon trough become weaker with the approach of winter
months.
 Whereas, during winters a high pressure develops North of the Himalaya and cold dry winds
blow from this high pressure region towards low pressure areas develops over the oceans of
south.
 Thus, These differences of pressure conditions are responsible for the reversal of direction of
winds.
4 ‘The bulk of rainfall in India is concentrated over a few months.’ Give reason.
 The rainfall received by India is largely due to the South-West monsoon, which is characterized
by seasonal reversal of wind.
 The most of the rain comes from south west monsoon.
 The duration of the monsoon is between 100 to 120 days.
 Hence, the bulk of rainfall received by the country is concentrated over a few months.
5. The western part of Rajasthan remains almost dry during South-West monsoon season. Give
three important reasons in support of this statement.
The western part of Rajasthan remains almost dry during South-West monsoon season because;
 The Bay of Bengal branch of south west monsoon winds blow from east dropping much of its
moisture along the path. When they reach Rajasthan they are almost dry.
 There is no mountain high enough to check the flow of the Arabian sea branch of the monsoon
winds. The Aravalli mountain lie parallel to moisture laden winds.
 The intense heat of western Rajasthan desert does not allow the condensation of moisture to take
place and hence no rain is there. This heat increases moisture carrying capacity of the wind.
6 Explain the characteristics and effects of the monsoon or monsoon.
Characteristics of Monsoon:
 Monsoon winds non-steady and pulsating in nature.
 Its duration varies from 100-120 days.(Early June to mid September)
 Around the time of its arrival, there is sudden increase and continuous rainfall for several days,
called as burst of monsoon.
 The monsoons account for 90% of the rainfall received by India. Almost every part of the
 country except Tamil Nadu coast receives rainfall by monsoon.
 The rainfall is neither continuous nor regular even in the wettest areas. It is charaterised by
breaks or dry spell.
 Overall rainfall is not the same each year. The monsoon may be strong or weak in a particular
year depending upon intensity and axis of low pressure trough.
 The monsoon rainfall not evenly distributed. In some areas, it may rain heavily while other areas
may face severe draught.
 Sometimes the monsoon breaks too early or too late. There may be too long and too many breaks
in the monsoon.
Effects of monsoon
 On one part, monsoon causes heavy flood on the other part it may be responsible for draught. In
both the cases it harms our economy.
 It is often irregular in its arrival and its retreat. Hence, it sometimes disturbs the farming schedule
in the country.
7 Elucidate the causes for uneven distribution of rainfall in India.
 Hilly and forest area get heavy rainfall because of high altitude and abundance of tree which
make the atmosphere cool and force the rain drops fall. Assam, the Ganga delta, the western ghat
the western coastal plain etc receives heavy rainfall because of this fact.
 Those areas which have no mountains to check rain bearing winds only get scanty rainfall. For
example in Rajasthan the Aravallie hills standing parallel to the monsoon winds hence receive
scanty rainfall.
 Areas which come in the rain shadow area do not get much rainfall. Eg. Eastern slope of western
ghat and Ladakh.
 Those areas which come first in the way of the rain bearing winds get more rainfall as compare
to areas which come last of all. Because of this fact Kolkata gets more rainfall then Delhi.
8 Why are Thiruvananthapuram and Shillong rainier in June than July?
 The south-west monsoons hit Thiruvananthapuram and Shillong around the first of June.
 Thiruvananthapuram receives rain from the Arabian Sea branch while Shillong receives rain
from the Bay of Bengal branch.
 After causing rains in these regions, the Arabian Sea Branch moves from south-west to north-
east, while the Bay of Bengal branch moves from north-east to north-west. As a result, these
regions receive lesser rainfall in the months succeeding June.
9 Why is July rainier in Mumbai than in Thiruvananthapuram?
 The monsoon strikes on June1 in Thiruvananthapuram then reaches Mumbai about 10 days after
Thiruvananthapuram so the initial impact of the monsoon continuous in the next month ie July in
Mumbai.
 After the first initial downpour, the monsoon falls into a steady pattern of raining for at least a
couple of hours most of the days. So, it reduces in Thiruvananthapuram earlier than in Mumbai.
10 Why south west monsoon less rainy in Chennai?
 Chennai does not receive much rain by the south west monsoon, because the Bay of Bengal
branch of monsoon passes parallel to Tamil Nadu coast causing very little or no rainfall.
 Arabian Sea branch of south west monsoon causes more rainfall on Malabar Coast than
Coromandal coast as it falls on leeward side of Western ghat. Chennai is situated in Coromandal
coast.
 Chennai gets most of its rainfall by the North East monsoon from October to December.
11 Why is Shillong rainier than Kolkata?
Shillong is in a hilly area and the hills trap the monsoon winds, so Shillong becomes rainier than
Kolkata.
12 Why Kolkata rainier in July than in June unlike Shillong which in June than in July?
The Bay of Bengal Branch of South West monsoon reaches Shillong after obstructed by Arkan Yoma
 Hills of Myanmar earlier than Kolkata and the initial impact is heavier than the later showers. So
Shillong is rainier in June while Kolkata is rainier in July.
13 Why Delhi receives more rainfall than Jodhpur?
Delhi lies in the northern plains, very near to Himachal Pradesh, in the foothills of the Western
Himalayas while Jodhpur lies in Rajasthan very near to the Aravalli Hills. Thus, Delhi gets rain
from both the South-West Monsoons and the South-east monsoons. Jodhpur remains dry because
Arabian Sea branch of South west monsoon runs parallel to Aravalli range without causing
rainfall. By the time South- West Monsoon reaches Jodhpur it become dry. Thus Delhi receives
more rain than Jodhpur.
14 Why Thiruvananthapuram has equable climate?
 It is situated on the sea coast. The moderating influence of the sea makes the climate equable.
 It is near to the equator. At the equator all the seasons have similar temperatures and so this
seasons have similar temperatures and so this makes the climate equable.
15 Jodhpur has a hot desert type of climate?
 Jodhpur is situated in the extreme north-western part of India which is a desert and so, when the
monsoon winds reach there, they exhaust their moisture.
 Due to the presence of huge sand, it experiences very high diurnal range of temperature and
therefore the region has a hot desert type of climate.
16 Why Leh has moderate precipitation almost throughout the year?
 Leh is a cold desert. It is located in the mountain and because of its topographical location it
receives moderate precipitation throughout the year.
 Precipitation is well-distributed in the form of rainfall in summer and snowfall in winter.
Snowfall occur due to western disturbances.
17 Why in Delhi and Jodhpur most of the rain is confined to nearly three months, while in
Thiruvananthapuram and Shillong it is almost nine months of the year?
 Rain in Delhi and Jodhpur are confined to monsoon period. It is because these regions are
located in the interior part of the country, which receives rainfall mostly from south-west
monsoon.
 Thiruvananthapuram is on the sea coast and so it receives rainfall from both south west
monsoon, besides receiving rainfall due to local disturbances which pick up moisture from the
sea.
 Shillong is in a hilly area and so receive rain from the monsoon as well as from local
disturbances which are trapped by the hills.
18 ‘In spite of many differences, monsoon still provided a very framework lending overall climatic
unity to the whole country.’ Justify
 The seasonal alteration of the wind systems and the associated weather conditions provide a
rhythmic cycle of seasons.
 Monsoon rains use unevenly distributed and typically uncertain.
 The Indian landscape, plant and animal life, agriculture the people and their festivals, all revolve
around the monsoon.
 All the Indian people eagerly await the arrival of the monsoon. The river valleys which carry this
water also unite as a single river valley unit.
 Monsoon binds the whole country by providing water which sets all agricultural activities in
motion.
Hence monsoon is considering as a unifying bond.
19 Rainfall decreases from east to west in the Northern Plain while it increases in the peninsular
India. Why?
The pattern of rainfall in the northern Plain
The rainfall decreases from east to west in the Northern Plain because of the following reasons:
  The Northern Plains get much of their rainfall by South-West Monsoons which strike the eastern
part of the country first and give heavy rainfall there. So eastern parts of the country like Assam,
Meghalaya, Bengal etc get much rainfall.
 Then the Monsoons arising from the Bay of Bengal move west-wards along the Himalayas. Their
capacity to cause rain becomes lesser and lesser as they move west-wards because they continue
to become drier and drier. Thus, Kolkata gets rainfall of 119cm, Patna 105cm, Allahabad 76cm
and Delhi 56cm per Year.
Pattern of Rainfall in peninsular India
 Quite opposite is the case as far as Peninsular India is concerned. It increases from east to
west because of the following two reasons.
 The Peninsular India also gets much of its rainfall because of another branch of the South-West
Monsoons which rises from the Arabian Sea. These monsoon winds first of all strike the Western
Ghats and cause much rain there.
 These winds while reaching the other side (or eastern side) of the western ghats become dry and
cause less rain. As they go moving to the eastern side, they become drier and so the rain goes on
decreasing from west to east.
20 Describe the regional variations in the climatic conditions of India with the help of suitable
examples.
Despite an overall unity in the general pattern, there are perceptible regional variations in climatic
conditions within the country. Two important elements –temperature and precipitation, and examine
how they vary from place to place and season to season.
TEMPERATURE
 In summer, the mercury occasionally touches 50°C in some parts of the Rajasthan desert,
whereas it may be around 20°C in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
 On a winter night, temperature at Drass in Jammu and Kashmir may be as low as minus 45°C.
Thiruvananthapuram, on the other hand, may have a temperature of 22°C.
 Variation in day and night temperature is maximum in Rajasthan whereas it is minimum in
Andaman and Nicobar island.
PRECIPITATION
 While precipitation is mostly in the form of snowfall in the upper parts of Himalayas, it rains
over the rest of the country.
 The annual precipitation varies from over 400 cm in Meghalaya to less than 10 cm in Ladakh and
western Rajasthan.
 Most parts of the country receive rainfall from June to September. But some parts like the Tamil
Nadu coast gets a large portion of its rain during October and November.
- min. temp.

Month=Lowest Temp.