1. Name the factors affecting the climate of a place.

Ans. (a) Tropic of Cancer (b) Great Himalayas

(Factors for temperature – location, influence of Himalayas,
Altitude, Distance from the sea, Western disturbances, Tropical,
cyclones and Upper air currents or Jet stream)
2. Name the type of climate in India.
Ans. Tropical Monsoon
3. What is the chief characteristic feature of the tropical monsoon
type climate?
Ans. Alternation of seasons
4. What are onshore winds and offshore winds?
Ans. Onshore winds are those winds that from blow sea to land, which
contain/bring moisture with them. Offshore winds are the winds
that blow from land to sea. These are dry winds.
5. State the importance of monsoon season in India.
Ans. Indian economy depends on monsoons. Failure of monsoon/
weak monsoon affects the crop pattern; also good rainfall helps
in increasing the groundwater levels.
6. Name a few local winds that pass through India.
Ans. Local winds – Loo, Kalibaisakhi, Mango showers, Norwesters
and Cherry blossom.
7. Which is the more important branch — the Arabian Sea branch
or the Bay of Bengal branch? Why?
Ans. The Arabian Sea branch because the Arabian Sea branch is more
powerful as it is three times greater than that the Bay of Bengal
branch.
8. Which is the first state to receive the monsoon winds and the
last to see its retreat in India?
Ans. Kerala
9. State two important characteristic features of the Indian monsoons.
Ans. – It is orographic in nature.
– It is uneven, erratic and unpredictable.
– Most of the country gets rain from the south-west monsoons.
10. Name the different seasons of India, stating the months when
 they are experienced.
Ans. The four seasons are:
(i) The Hot Day Season (March to May)
(ii) The Rainy Season or the season of the South-west monsoon
(June to September)
(iii) The Season of Retreating South-west monsoon (Oct to Nov).
(iv) The Cold Season or the season of the North-East monsoon
(Dec to Feb)
11. What is the meaning of the word ‘monsoon’?
Ans. Monsoon is derived from the Arabic word ‘Mausim’ which
means season.
12. How are monsoon winds different from the land and sea breezes?
Ans. Monsoon winds blow for a certain period of time and are
responsible for bringing rain on a larger scale, whereas land
and sea breezes only moderate the temperature of a place.
13. Why are there great variations in India’s climate?
Ans. Due to
– vast latitudinal expanse
– the varied topographical features
– the size of the land
– distance from the sea
14. Give reasons to justify that the Himalayas act as a perfect climatic
divide.
Ans. The two functions of the Himalayas are :
(a) they act as a barrier for the rain bearing winds, i.e., they do
not allow the winds to leave our country.
(b) they prevent the bitter cold winds from Siberia entering
our country.
15. Which winds are responsible for the rain experienced over the
greater part of India?
Ans. South-west Monsoon winds
16. During which part of the year is the rain experienced in India?
Ans. June to September
17. How are the sources of rainfall in the north-west part of India
different from the rain experienced on the eastern coastal areas
in winter?
Ans. North-west India – Westerly depressions – rainfall during winter;
coastal areas of Eastern India – North-east monsoon – rainfall
during winter.
18. Why does Kanyakumari experience an equable climate?
Ans. Because it has coastal influence/surrounded by the sea.
19. Why does central Maharashtra receive scanty rainfall?
Ans. It lies in the rain shadow region of the Deccan Plateau.
20. Why is western part of India a desert region?
Ans. Western India –
(i) The Arabian Sea branch of South-west monsoon blows parallel
to the Aravalli hills, so they do not intercept these winds.
(ii) These hills are very low.
(iii) The moisture laden winds passing over Rajasthan do not
saturate as the heat in the desert region increases their
capacity to hold moisture.
21. What are western disturbances?
Ans. During winter there is an inflow of low pressure depressions
called Western Disturbance in North-west India. These originate
in the Mediterranean Sea and come to India after crossing Iraq,
Afghanistan and Pakistan. They move east causing/bringing rain
in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.
22. Name one part of India that receives rainfall in winter and summer
as well.
Ans. Coromandel Coast
23. Explain how retreating monsoon winds are different from the
north-east trades.
Ans. (i) Retreating monsoons blow during the months of October and
November.
(ii) The north-east trade winds bring less rain.
North-east monsoon – they blow from North-east to South-
east and bring rain during winter to Eastern Coast.
24. Name a place in India which receives the heaviest rainfall. To
which state does this place belong?
Ans. Mawsynram in Meghalaya (state).
25. Name the winds that are responsible for causing heaviest rainfall
in the above question.
 Ans. The Bay of Bengal branch of South-west monsoon.
[Temperature and Rainfall conditions in major cities of India]
Station Altitude in
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Metres

Pune 559 T°C 21 22.6 26.3 29.2 29.7 27.5 25.1 24.5 24.8 25.5 22.5 20.5

R cms 0.15 0.15 0.15 1.5 2.7 11.4 16.7 9.0 13.4 9.0 2.7 0.3

Mumbai T 24.4 24.4 26.7 28.3 30.0 28.9 27.2 27.2 27.2 28.3 27.2 25.0

R 0.25 0.25 — — 1.75 50.2 61.0 37.0 27.0 4.75 1.00 —

Mangaluru 22 T 26.5 26.8 28.1 29.2 29.2 26.5 26.1 26.1 26.3 26.8 27.0 26.7

R 0.28 0.18 0.52 2.89 15.7 94.18 98.8 59.74 26.62 20.7 7.24 1.29

Madurai 133 T 25.0 26.5 28.7 30.6 21.2 20.08 20.2 29.08 29.02 28.0 26.4 25.2

R 1.97 1.24 1.77 5.48 6.95 2.98 4.94 16.2 11.9 18.8 14.5 5.1

Chennai T 24.5 26 28 30 32 32.5 30.7 30 29.7 28 26 24.6

R 2.8 0.7 0.7 1.5 4.5 5.1 9.5 11.3 12.4 28.1 34.5 13.6

Srinagar 1586 T 0.3 2.6 8.3 13.1 17.7 21.9 24.4 23.8 20.2 14.0 8.1 3.3

R 7.39 7.1 9.17 9.27 1.65 3.56 5.92 6.15 3.89 2.97 1.12 3.35

New Delhi 216 T 13.8 16.6 21.6 27.8 33.2 33.6 30.9 29.8 29.2 25.7 19.7 15.2

R 2.5 2.1 1.3 0.8 1.3 7.7 17.9 18.4 12.3 1.0 0.2 1.0

Kolkata 6 T 19.4 21.7 26.7 29.4 30.6 29.4 28.9 28.3 28.3 27.2 22.8 19.4

R 0.7 2.8 3.6 4.8 14.5 30.2 31.8 32.3 25.1 10.6 1.8 0.4

Ahmedabad 50 T 21.7 23.3 27.9 31.7 33.9 33 29.8 28.5 29 29.4 26.2 22.7

R 0.15 0.2 0.13 0.13 0.99 9.3 31 20.4 106 0.89 0.36 0.1

26. Refer data of Pune and answer the following questions :

(a) Calculate the annual range of temperature.
(b) What is the total rainfall experienced by the station?
(c) When does the station receive maximum rainfall? State a
reason for your answer.
Ans. (a) 9.2°C (b) 67.15 cm
(c) In the month of July by South West Monsoon of Arabian sea
branch.
27. Give reasons for the following :
(i) Mumbai gets more rainfall than Pune.
(ii) The moisture laden winds passing over Rajasthan do not
saturate.
(iii) S.W. monsoon withdraws from India in October/November.
Ans. (i) Since Mumbai lies on the windward side of Western Ghats
and Pune lies on the leeward side of Western Ghats, it
receives less rain.
(ii) As the heat in the desert region increases the capacity to hold
the moisture.
 (iii) Due to the apparent movement of the Sun towards south, the low pressure in Central
India gets weakened and is no longer able to attract the monsoon winds towards the
land, so the South-west monsoon begins to withdraw from the mainland of India.
28. Answer in one word :
(i) Withdrawal of SW monsoon.
(ii) Low pressure depressions during winter in North-west India.
(iii) Land and sea breeze on a large scale.
Ans. (i) Retreating monsoon
(ii) Westerly depressions
(iii) Monsoon