Geography

Chapter 4 Climate of India
Question 1.Name the factors affecting the climate of a place.
Answer: The climate of a place is mainly affected by the
temperature, rainfall, atmospheric pressure and
direction of winds.
 The climate of the Indian subcontinent, is greatly
influenced by two factors:

1. Tropic of cancer (23 1/2°N) dividing the country into two Halves-North
Temperature Zone and South Tropical Zone.
2. Great Himalayan Range separating the Indian subcontinent form the east of
Asia.

Question 2. Name type of climate in India.
Answer: Tropical Monsoon Type of
climate in India.

Question 3. What is the chief characteristic feature of the tropical monsoon
type climate?
Answer: The important features of tropical monsoon are:

 Most of the country gets rain from the South-West Monsoon.
 The rain is unevenly distributed.
 It is erratic and unpredictable.
 It is seasonal mostly coming in rainy season.
 Presence of mountain. It is mainly orographic in nature.
 Monsoon rains have great effect on our economy.

Question 4. What are onshore winds and offshore winds?
Answer:
1. Onshore wind is a gentle wind blowing from sea toward land that develops over
bodies near land due to difference in air pressure.

2. Off shore winds are those which starts blowing from the high-pressure area over the
land to low -pressure area over the sea in a general North-East direction.

Question 5.State the importance of Monsoon season in India.
Answer:
Importance of the Monsoon season in India:

 India’s entire agriculture calendar and the total life of the India people
revolve around the monsoons.
 Indian agriculture is gamble of monsoons and the production of
agriculture depends on timely arrival of monsoons.
 Most of the rivers of India get their water from the monsoons.

, Question 6.Name a few local winds that pass through India.

Answer: 1. First local wind is known as loo (hot wind) along the northern plain of India
due to extremely rising temperatures pushed by the trade winds.

2. Second local wind is known as ‘Kal-Baisakhi’ (The month of April causing death) in W.
Bengal and Assam, where due to rapid cyclonic winds with high speed cause maximum
loss and deaths in this area. These are called Nor’westers in geographical term, as the
winds come very fast from northwestern direction towards the eye of the cyclones.

Question 7. Which is the more important branch – the Arabian Sea Branch or
the Bay of Bengal Branch? Why?
Answer:
The Arabian Sea Branch is the more important branch than the Bay of Bengal. Due
to following reasons

 The Arabian Sea Branch is much larger than the Bay of Bengal.
 The whole of the Arabian Sea branch is used up by the entire country whereas
only part of the Bay of Bengal branch enters India through North- East India, the
rest goes toward Myanmar and Thailand.

Question 8.Which is the first State to receive the monsoon and the last to see
it retreat in India?
Answer: Kerala is the first State to receive the monsoon and Kachchh, Eastern
Rajasthan, U.R, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Eastern Punjab are the last to see it
retreat in India.

Question 9. State two important characteristic features of the Indian
monsoons.

Answer: Following are the characteristic features of the Indian monsoons:

 Most of the rainfalls during the months of June-September.
 During the season it also causes heavy downpours. Such heavy downpour
results in soil erosion.
 Our monsoons are unreliable, uncertain, erratic, and undependable.
 It is orographic in nature.

Question 10. Name the different seasons of India, stating the months when
they are experienced.
The different seasons of India are:

 The Hot Dry Season (March to May)
 The rainy season or the season of south-west monsoon. (June to
September)