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-1- #04 , The Climate of India Name of Indian climate: Tropical Monsoon Climate. The term Monsoon is derived from an Arabic word Mausim meaning season. Monsoon winds are those winds which blow from sea to land in one season and from landmass towards the sea in the other season. Infact the climate of all south Asian countries are controlled by the Monsoon mechanism or South Asia has a Monsoon type of climate. The extremes of climate in India. There are certain regional variations in the climate of India based on topographic differences. The northern plains of India have continental type of climate. It is extremely hot in summer and very cold in winter. The reason is the distance of this area away from the moderating influence of the sea. In winter season the temperatures over Kashmir and many Himalayan regions fall below 0 C where as during May / June the Thar desert of India experiences severe heat with temperature rising over 50 C. The Thar desert is an extremely arid region with an annual rainfall of less than 25 cm where as Mawsynram near Cherrapunjee on the Khasi hills of Meghalaya receives as high as 1187cm of rainfall annually. The coastal regions of India have equable climate due to the moderating influence of the sea. Factors affecting the climate of India. 1. Role of Himalayas : The high wall of Himalayas along with its eastern and western offshoots act as an effective climatic barrier. It protects India from the cold and chilly winds originating from the Arctic region thus protects from severity of cold from winter. During the summer season it checks the moisture laden monsoon winds and helps in bringing plenty of rainfall to India. 2. Moderating influence of the sea: The Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal exert a moderating influence on the coastal regions of India. These water bodies provides much needed moisture to the summer monsoons which brings plenty of rainfall to these regions. Places in the interior have continental type of climate as they are far from the moderating influence of the sea and have very hot summers and very cold dry winters. Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur are examples for such places. 3. Altitude: Due to the altitude factor, places located on the high mountains such as hill stations of Darjeeling, Nainital, Shimla, Mussoorie, Kathmandu, Paro etc remain cool through out the year. (for every 1000m of height decrease of 6
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