General Awareness The Climate of India

The Climate of India

1. India has tropical monsoon type of climate. It .is greatly influenced by the presence of Himalayas in the North as they block the cold masses from Central Asia. It is because of Himalayas that the monsoons shed their water in India.

2. The Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N) divide India into two almost equal climatic zones, namely, the Northern zone (subtropical) and the Southern zone (tropical).

3. The warm temperature or the sub-tropical climate of the Northern zone gives it cold winter seasons and hot summer seasons.

4. The Southern tropical climate zone is warmer than the North and does not have a clear cut winter season.

5. The Southern zone has the mid-day Sun almost vertically overhead at least twice every year and the Northern zone does not have the mid-day Sun vertically overhead during any part of t:he year.

(a) Physiography

Such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, direction of wind and amount of rainfall.

(b) Monsoon Wind

1. lt is the most dominating factor of Indian climate. The South-West summer monsoon from the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal bring rainfall to the entire country.

2. Besides the North-East winter monsoon travelling from land to sea causes rainfall along the Commandeer coast after getting moisture from the Bay of Bengal.

(e) El Nino

1. It is a narrow warm current, which occasionally appears off the coast of Peru in December by temporarily replacing the cold Peru current.

(d) La Nina

1. It is the reverse of El Nino. lt is a harbinger of heavy monsoon showers in India.

Precipitation Pattern in India

1. India can be divided into the four regions depending upon the annual average rainfall received 'by these regions:

Seasons in India

1. The image shows the various seasons in India:

Areas of Very High Rainfall (above 200 cm)

1. It includes almost whole of Assam. Nagaland, Megha!aya. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, S.ikkim, parts of Manipur, West Bengal and the Western coast from Thiruvananthapurarn to Mumbai.

Areas of High Rainfall (100-200 cm)

1. It includes Eastern slopes of Western ghats, major parts of Northern plain, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Areas of Low Rainfall (50-100 cm)

1. It includes large parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Western Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Eastern Rajasthan etc.

Areas of Very Low Rainfall (below 50 cm)

1. It Includes arid and semiarid area and include large areas of Western Rajasthan, Kachehh and most of the region of Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir).