UNIT

III

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

This unit deals with
• Weather and climate – spatial and temporal distribution of temperature,
pressure, winds and rainfall; Indian monsoons: mechanism, onset and
variability – spatial and temporal; climatic types
• Natural vegetation – forest types and distribution; wild life
conservation; biosphere reserves

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28 INDIA : PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER

CLIMATE

W
e drink more water during summers. the weather and climate of different regions of
Your uniform during the summer is India. For example, the climate of Kerala and
different from the winters. Why do Tamil Nadu in the south are so different from
you wear lighter clothes during summers and that of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the north,
heavy woollen clothes during winters in north and yet all of these have a monsoon type of
India? In southern India, woollen clothes are climate. The climate of India has many regional
not required. In northeastern states, winters variations expressed in the pattern of winds,
are mild except in the hills. There are variations temperature and rainfall, rhythm of seasons
in weather conditions during different seasons. and the degree of wetness or dryness. These
These changes occur due to the changes in the regional diversities may be described as
elements of weather (temperature, pressure, sub-types of monsoon climate. Let us take a
wind direction and velocity, humidity and closer look at these regional variations in
precipitation, etc.). temperature, winds and rainfall.
While in the summer the mercury
Weather is the momentary state of the occasionally touches 55°°C in the western
atmosphere while climate refers to the Rajasthan, it drops down to as low as minus
average of the weather conditions over a 45°°C in winter around Leh. Churu in
longer period of time. Weather changes Rajasthan may record a temperature of
quickly, may be within a day or week but
50°°C or more on a June day while the
climate changes imperceptively and may
mercury hardly touches 19°°C in Tawang
be noted after 50 years or even more.
(Arunachal Pradesh) on the same day.
On a December night, temperature in
You have already studied about the
Drass (Ladakh) may drop down to minus
monsoon in your earlier classes. You are also
45°°C while Thiruvananthapuram or Chennai
aware of the meaning of the word, “monsoon”.
on the same night records 20°°C or 22°°C. These
Monsoon connotes the climate associated with
examples confirm that there are seasonal
seasonal reversal in the direction of winds.
variations in temperature from place to place
India has hot monsoonal climate which is the
and from region to region in India. Not only this,
prevalent climate in south and southeast Asia.
if we take only a single place and record the
temperature for just one day, variations are no
UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE MONSOON CLIMATE
less striking. In Kerala and in the Andaman
The monsoon regime emphasises the unity of Islands, the difference between day and night
India with the rest of southeast Asian region. temperatures may be hardly seven or eight
This view of broad unity of the monsoon type degree Celsius. But in the Thar desert, if the
of climate should not, however, lead one to day temperature is around 50°°C, at night, it
ignore its regional variations which differentiate may drop down considerably upto 15°°-20°°C.

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CLIMATE 29

Now, let us see the regional variations in The Himalayan Mountains : The lofty
precipitation. While snowfall occurs in the Himalayas in the north along with its
Himalayas, it only rains over the rest of the extensions act as an effective climatic divide.
country. Similarly, variations are noticeable not The towering mountain chain provides an
only in the type of precipitation but also in its invincible shield to protect the subcontinent
amount. While Cherrapunji and Mawsynram from the cold northern winds. These cold and
in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya receive rainfall chilly winds originate near the Arctic circle
over 1,080 cm in a year, Jaisalmer in Rajasthan and blow across central and eastern Asia. The
rarely gets more than 9 cm of rainfall during Himalayas also trap the monsoon winds,
the same period. forcing them to shed their moisture within the
Tura situated in the Garo Hills of subcontinent.
Meghalaya may receive an amount of rainfall
in a single day which is equal to 10 years of Distribution of Land and Water : India is
rainfall at Jaisalmer. While the annual flanked by the Indian Ocean on three sides in
precipitation is less than 10 cm in the north- the south and girdled by a high and
west Himalayas and the western deserts, it continuous mountain-wall in the north. As
exceeds 400 cm in Meghalaya. compared to the landmass, water heats up or
The Ganga delta and the coastal plains cools down slowly. This differential heating of
of Odisha are hit by strong rain-bearing land and sea creates different air pressure
storms almost every third or fifth day in July zones in different seasons in and around
and August while the Coromandal coast, a the Indian subcontinent. Difference in air
thousand km to the south, goes generally pressure causes reversal in the direction of
dry during these months. Most parts of the monsoon winds.
country get rainfall during June-
September, but on the coastal areas of Tamil Distance from the Sea : With a long coastline,
Nadu, it rains in the beginning of the winter large coastal areas have an equable climate.
season. Areas in the interior of India are far away from
In spite of these differences and variations, the moderating influence of the sea. Such
the climate of India is monsoonal in areas have extremes of climate. That is why,
rhythm and character. the people of Mumbai and the Konkan coast
have hardly any idea of extremes of
FACTORS DETERMINING THE CLIMATE OF INDIA temperature and the seasonal rhythm of
weather. On the other hand, the seasonal
India’s climate is controlled by a number of
contrasts in weather at places in the
factors.
interior of the country such as Delhi,
Latitude : You already know the latitudinal
Kanpur and Amritsar affect the entire
and longitudinal extent of the land of India.
sphere of life.
You also know that the Tropic of Cancer
passes through the central part of India in Altitude : Temperature decreases with
east-west direction. Thus, northern part of height. Due to thin air, places in the
the India lies in sub-tropical and temperate mountains are cooler than places on the
zone and the part lying south of the Tropic plains. For example, Agra and Darjiling are
of Cancer falls in the tropical zone. The located on the same latitude, but
tropical zone being nearer to the equator, temperature of January in Agra is 16°°C
experiences high temperatures throughout whereas it is only 4°°C in Darjiling.
the year with small daily and annual range.
Area north of the Tropic of Cancer being Relief : The physiography or relief of India also
away from the equator, experiences extreme affects the temperature, air pressure, direction
climate with high daily and annual range and speed of wind and the amount and
of temperature. distribution of rainfall. The windward sides

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30 INDIA : PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

Inter Tropical
The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
is a low pressure zone located at the equator
The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a low
where trade winds converge, and so, it is a zone where air tends pressure zone located atInthe
to ascend. equator
July, the
where trade winds converge, and so, it is a zone where air tends to ascend.
ITCZ is located around 20°°N-25°°N latitudes (over the Gangetic plain), sometimes called In July, the
ITCZ is located around 20°N-25°N latitudes (over the Gangetic plain),
the monsoon trough. This monsoon trough encourages the development of thermal low sometimes called
the north
over monsoon trough. This
and northwest monsoon
India. Due totrough encourages
the shift thetrade
of ITCZ, the development
winds of of
thethermal
southernlow
over north and northwest India. Due to the shift of ITCZ, the trade winds
hemisphere cross the equator between 40°° and 60°°E longitudes and start blowing from of the southern
hemisphere cross the equator between 40° and 60°E longitudes and start blowing from
southwest to northeast due to the Coriolis force. It becomes southwest monsoon. In winter,
southwest to northeast due to the Coriolis force. It becomes southwest monsoon. In winter,
the ITCZ moves southward, and so the reversal of winds from northeast to south and
the ITCZ moves southward, and so the reversal of winds from northeast to south and
southwest, takes place. They are called northeast monsoons.
southwest, takes place. They are called northeast monsoons.

of Western Ghats and Assam receive high gets intensely heated. This causes the
rainfall during June-September whereas the formation of an intense low pressure in the
southern plateau remains dry due to its northwestern part of the subcontinent. Since
leeward situation along the Western Ghats. the pressure in the Indian Ocean in the south
of the landmass is high as water gets heated
THE NATURE OF INDIAN MONSOON slowly, the low pressure cell attracts the
southeast trades across the Equator. These
Monsoon is a familiar though a little known
conditions help in the northward shift in the
climatic phenomenon. Despite the observations
position of the ITCZ. The southwest monsoon
spread over centuries, the monsoon continues
may thus, be seen as a continuation of the
to puzzle the scientists. Many attempts have
southeast trades deflected towards the Indian
been made to discover the exact nature and
subcontinent after crossing the Equator. These
causation of monsoon, but so far, no single
winds cross the Equator between 40°°E and
theory has been able to explain the monsoon
60°°E longitudes.
fully. A real breakthrough has come recently
when it was studied at the global rather than
at regional level.
Systematic studies of the causes of rainfall
in the South Asian region help to understand
the causes and salient features of the monsoon,
particularly some of its important aspects,
such as:
(i) The onset of the monsoon.
(ii) Break in the monsoon.

Onset of the Monsoon

Towards the end of the nineteenth
century, it
was believed that the differential heating of
land and sea during the summer months is
the mechanism which sets the stage for
the monsoon winds to drift towards the
subcontinent. During April and May when the
sun shines vertically over the Tropic of Cancer,
the large landmass in the north of Indian ocean Figure 4.1 : Onset of Monsoon

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