Climate
Notebook work
[Link] monsoons. What do you
understand by “breaks” in monsoon?
[Link] seasonal reversal in wind direction
during a year is called the monsoon. Monsoon tends
to have ‘breaks’ in rainfall; which means that there
are wet and dry spells in between The monsoon
rains take place only for a few days at a time and
then come to the rainless intervals.
[Link] are the controls affecting the climate
of India?
There are six major controls of the climate of any
place. They are:
[Link]
[Link]
[Link] and wind system
[Link] from the sea (continentality)
[Link] currents
[Link] features
Give Reason
1. The bulk of rainfall in India is
concentrated over a few months
[Link] inflow of the south-west
monsoon into India brings about a total
change in the weather. Early in the
season, the windward side of the
Western Ghats receives very heavy
rainfall, more than 250 cm. The Deccan
Plateau and parts of Madhya Pradesh
also receive some amount of rain in
spite of lying in the rain shadow area.
The maximum rainfall of this season is
received in the north-eastern part of the
country. Mawsynram in the southern
ranges of the Khasi Hills receives the
highest average rainfall in the world.
Rainfall in the Ganga valley decreases
from the east to the west. Rajasthan and
parts of Gujarat get scanty rainfall.
2. The delta region of the eastern coast
is frequently struck by cyclones
[Link] low-pressure conditions,
over northwestern India, get transferred
to the Bay of Bengal by early November.
This shift is associated with the
occurrence of cyclonic depressions,
which originate over the Andaman Sea.
These cyclones generally cross the
eastern coasts of India cause heavy and
widespread rain. These tropical
cyclones are often very destructive. The
thickly populated deltas of the Godavari,
the Krishna and the Kaveri are
frequently struck by cyclones, which
cause great damage to life and property.
Sometimes, these cyclones arrive at the
coasts of Orissa, West Bengal and
Bangladesh.
3. Parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the
leeward side of the Western Ghats are
drought-prone
[Link] to the nature of
monsoons, the annual rainfall is highly
variable from year to year. Variability is
high in the regions of low rainfall such
as parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the
leeward side of the Western Ghats. As
such, while areas of high rainfall are
liable to be affected by floods, areas of
low rainfall are drought-prone.
Name the. elements of weather and
climate.
Answer:
Temperature, atmospheric pressure,
wind, humidity and precipitation.
Question 4.
What does ‘monsoon’ imply?
Answer:
The word, ‘monsoon’ comes from the
Arabic word’ mausim’ which means
season. It implies a seasonal reversal in
the wind direction throughout the year.
Question 5.
Which are the rainest months of India?
Answer:
June to September
Question 6.
Name the month in which the withdrawl
of monsoon begins.
Answer:
September
Despite an overall unity in the gen¬eral
pattern of climate of India,there are
perceptible regional variations in climatic
conditions within the country.” Justify.
Or
“India has diverse climatic
conditions”Support this statement by
giving examples, each of tempera¬ture
and precipitation.
Answer:
The mercury occasionally touches
50°C in the western deserts, and it
drops down to as low as -45°C in
winter around Leh.
The annual precipitation is less than
10 cm in the north-west Himalayas
and the western desert. It exceeds
400 cm in Meghalaya.
Most parts of the country receive
rainfall from June to September, but
some parts like the Tamil Nadu coast
get most of its rain during October and
November.
7
Explain the factors affecting India’s
climate.
Answer:
Latitude : The Tropic of Cancer passes
through the middle of the country from
the Rann of Kuchchh in the west to
Mizoram in the east. Almost half of the
country, lying south of the Tropic of
Cancer, belongs to the tropical area.
All the remaining area, north of the
Tropic, lies in the sub-tropic.
Therefore, India’s climate has
characteristics of tropical as well as
subtropical climates.
Altitude: India has mountains to the
north which have an average height of
about 6,000 metres. India also has
[Link] coastal area where the
maximum elevation i% about 30
metres. The Himalayas prevent the
cold winds from Central AsiafrQm
entering the subcontinent. It is
because of these mountains that this
subcontinent experiences
comparatively milder winters as
compared to central Asia.
Pressure and Winds
[Link] acts as a unifying bond”.
Explain.
Answer:
The seasonal alteration of the wind
systems and the associated weather
conditions provide a rhythmic cycle of
seasons. Even the uncertainties of
rain and uneven distribution are very
much typical of the monsoons.
The Indian landscape, its animal and
plant life, its entire agricultural
calendar arid the life of the people,
including their festivities, revolve
around this phenomenon. Year after
year, people of India from north to
south and from east to west, eagerly
await the arrival of the monsoon.
These monsoon winds bind the whole
country by providing water to set the
agricultural activities in motion. The
river valleys which carry this water
also unite as a single river valley unit.