Climates of India — Chapter 3
Complete Question Solutions
Step-by-step, direct answers to every in-text activity and end-of-chapter question — monsoons, climate factors, disasters and climate change, explained with diagrams straight from the chapter.
In-text Questions — “Let’s Explore” & “Think About It”
These are the activity boxes scattered through the chapter (pages 47–62). Model, exam-ready answers for each are given below in the order they appear.
Model answer: My favourite season is varṣhā (the monsoon). After the long, dry heat of grīṣhma, the first showers cool the air and turn the parched earth green within days. I enjoy the smell of wet soil (called “petrichor”), the sound of rain on the roof, and being able to fly kites and eat monsoon snacks like pakoras. Farmers in my area also begin sowing their kharif crops at this time, so the season feels full of new beginnings. I also like śhishir (winter) for its cool mornings, mist, and festivals like Lohri and Makar Sankranti that bring family together around a bonfire.
(Students should write about the season they personally enjoy most, giving at least two concrete reasons — climate comfort, food, festivals, activities, or farm work associated with it.)
Sample findings a group could report:
- Spring (vasanta): Vasanta Panchami — flying kites, wearing yellow, eating saffron-flavoured sweets.
- Summer (grīṣhma): mango festivals; eating raw-mango drinks (aam panna) to beat the heat.
- Monsoon (varṣhā): Teej, Rath Yatra — swings decorated for girls, songs sung for rain.
- Autumn (śharad): Sharad Purnima — moonlit night, kheer left under the moon.
- Winter (hemanta/śhishir): Lohri, Makar Sankranti/Pongal — bonfires, til-gud sweets, kite flying.
Each group should document the specific song, food or ritual practiced locally and present it with photos or a short skit to the class.
Many broad-leaved (deciduous) trees such as the Semal (silk cotton tree), Palash (Flame of the Forest), Peepal, and Mahua shed their leaves before winter/spring. This happens because:
- As days get shorter and cooler, the tree produces less chlorophyll (the green pigment used for photosynthesis), which reveals the yellow/orange/red pigments already present in the leaf.
- Shedding leaves reduces water loss through transpiration during the dry, cold months when the roots absorb less water.
- It is a survival adaptation — the tree conserves energy and protects itself from frost damage.
Students should find and record local names of such trees in their own area as part of the activity.
Answer
Since Ooty and Coimbatore lie at nearly the same latitude, latitude cannot explain the temperature difference — the reason lies in altitude.
- Ooty is a hill station in the Nilgiri Hills at an altitude of roughly 2,240 m above sea level.
- Coimbatore lies in the plains below, at only about 410 m above sea level.
As explained in the chapter, temperature decreases as altitude increases — the air is less dense at height (so it holds less heat) and it is farther from the Earth’s surface, which is the main source of heat absorbed from the Sun. Because Ooty sits nearly 1,800 m higher than Coimbatore, its air is significantly cooler throughout the year, giving it much lower summer temperatures despite being at almost the same latitude.
Sample list (traditional weather-prediction knowledge from across India)
- Peacocks dancing with their feathers spread is widely believed to signal the approaching monsoon.
- Ants carrying their eggs and moving to higher ground is taken as a sign of heavy rain approaching.
- Fish rising to the surface (as noted for Konkan fishermen in the chapter) signals the onset of monsoon.
- A red or orange sunset is often taken to mean fair weather the next day, while a red sunrise suggests rain.
- The flowering of the Golden Shower tree (Cassia fistula) is believed to predict monsoon arrival within about 50 days, in parts of southern India.
- Low, thick cloud cover with a “heavy,” still air is a traditional sign that rain is near.
- Crows building nests lower on trees is taken by some communities as a sign of heavier rainfall ahead; nests built high suggest a drier season.
- In hill regions, frogs croaking loudly in the evening is considered a sign of rain the same night.
Students are expected to interview elders/local farmers/fisherfolk in their own area and record at least 3–4 such observations specific to their region as the actual activity output.
Sample project outline
A student could report back findings such as these, gathered from elders:
| Festival | Region | Connection to agriculture/rain |
|---|---|---|
| Bihu | Assam | Marks the agricultural new year and the sowing season; Bohag Bihu celebrates the start of cultivation. |
| Pongal | Tamil Nadu | A harvest festival thanking the Sun and cattle for a good crop. |
| Onam | Kerala | Harvest festival celebrated after the monsoon paddy crop is gathered. |
| Baisakhi | Punjab | Marks the harvesting of the rabi (wheat) crop. |
| Lohri | North India | A bonfire festival marking the end of winter, tied to the harvest. |
For the class fest, students can perform a Bihu dance, sing a monsoon rāga such as Meghamalhār, or narrate a grandparent’s story about a rain-prayer ritual, accompanied by photos of the food/rituals collected during the interviews.
Answer
These states are flood-prone mainly because of their location on low-lying river plains and their exposure to heavy monsoon rainfall:
- Uttar Pradesh & Bihar lie in the flat Gangetic plain, criss-crossed by the Ganga and its tributaries (Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi). During heavy monsoon rain, and with extra water coming down from the Himalayan catchment, these slow-moving rivers frequently overflow their banks onto the flat surrounding land.
- Assam lies along the Brahmaputra, a river that carries an enormous volume of water and silt from the Eastern Himalayas; the flat Assam valley cannot always contain this discharge during the monsoon.
- Kerala receives extremely heavy rainfall from the southwest monsoon as the Western Ghats force moisture-laden winds to rise and drop most of their rain on the state; its many short, fast rivers can flood quickly.
- Andhra Pradesh, being a coastal state at the mouth of rivers like the Godavari and Krishna, faces flooding both from heavy monsoon river discharge and from cyclones that make landfall on its coast.
In short: flat low-lying terrain + a major river system + very heavy monsoon or cyclonic rainfall = high flood risk.
- People: loss of life and injury, displacement from homes, disease outbreaks (from flood water), loss of livelihoods and property.
- Plants: uprooted trees and crops (cyclone, landslide), destroyed forests and vegetation cover (forest fire), waterlogged and rotting crops (flood).
- Animals: loss of wildlife habitat, animal deaths, livestock losses affecting farming families.
- Economic life: destroyed roads, bridges and buildings; disrupted farming and industry; heavy government spending on relief and rebuilding; rising food prices due to crop loss.
| Disaster | Natural causes | Human-linked causes |
|---|---|---|
| Cyclone | Intense low-pressure system over warm ocean, high wind speeds | Rising sea-surface temperature linked to climate change can intensify cyclones |
| Landslide | Heavy rainfall, steep slopes, earthquakes | Deforestation, unapproved construction, blocking natural water flow |
| Forest fire | Dry climatic conditions, drought, high winds, lightning | Human carelessness (unattended fires, cigarette butts), encroachment |
| Flood | Heavy rainfall, river overflow, glacial bursts | Poor drainage planning, construction blocking waterways, deforestation increasing run-off |
- Early-warning systems and timely alerts from the IMD for cyclones and heavy rain.
- Maintaining forest cover and avoiding deforestation on slopes to reduce landslide risk.
- Well-planned urban drainage systems and not building on natural waterways/floodplains.
- Fire watch towers, fire lines, and public awareness during dry seasons to prevent forest fires.
- Building cyclone shelters and having evacuation plans in vulnerable coastal areas.
- Training and deploying disaster response forces like the NDRF for rapid rescue.
Questions and Activities (Page 65–66)
Complete solutions to all seven end-of-chapter questions, in order.
| Column A | Matches with | Column B |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Latitude | → (b) | Creates different climates in the north and south |
| (2) Altitude | → (c) | Keeps higher places cooler |
| (3) Proximity to the ocean | → (d) | Moderates the temperature |
| (4) Monsoon winds | → (a) | Brings wet air to India during summer |
Weather is what we experience from day to day or hour to hour in a place — it can be rainy, sunny, hot, dry or windy, and it keeps changing. Climate is the long-term pattern of weather that a region experiences, averaged over several decades. So weather is short-term and local, while climate is the long-term average pattern for a whole region.
The sea acts as a moderator of temperature. Land absorbs and loses heat quickly, but water absorbs and loses heat slowly. So in summer, coastal areas stay cooler because the nearby sea warms up slowly and cools the surrounding air; in winter, the sea stays relatively warm and releases heat slowly, keeping coastal areas from getting too cold. Places far from the sea don’t get this moderating effect, so they experience much hotter summers and much colder winters — a bigger annual temperature range. For example, Mumbai (coastal) has a range of about 14°C, while Nagpur (inland, similar latitude) has a range of about 34°C.
Monsoon winds bring India its main rainy season. In summer, the Asian landmass heats up faster than the ocean, creating a low-pressure area over land; moist winds are drawn in from the high-pressure ocean towards this low-pressure land (the southwest monsoon), bringing heavy rain to most of India between June and September — this rain is vital for agriculture. In winter, the pattern reverses: the land cools faster than the sea, so winds blow from land to sea (the northeast monsoon), bringing mostly dry conditions, except where the winds pick up moisture crossing the Bay of Bengal and bring some rain to parts of the east and south.
Chennai lies at a low latitude, close to the sea at sea level, so the Sun’s rays fall on it almost perpendicularly for most of the year, keeping it warm to hot throughout the year (the sea keeps the heat from becoming too extreme, but does not make it cold). Leh, on the other hand, lies at a much higher latitude and a very high altitude in the Himalayas — as altitude increases, the air becomes thinner and colder, and being far inland it also loses the moderating effect of the sea. This combination of high altitude and northern latitude makes Leh cold for most of the year.
| City | Location | Climate type | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leh | High in the Himalayas (Ladakh) | Cold, alpine / cold-desert climate | Very high altitude and northern latitude → thin, cold air; far from the moderating sea; snowy winters, short cool summers. |
| Chennai | On the east coast (Bay of Bengal) | Tropical wet & dry climate | Low latitude keeps it hot; nearness to sea moderates extremes slightly, but it stays warm/hot most of the year with a mild winter. |
| Delhi | Northern plains, inland (far from sea) | Subtropical climate | No sea nearby to moderate temperature → very hot summers and cold winters; large annual temperature range. |
| Panaji | West coast (Arabian Sea), Goa | Tropical wet climate | Coastal location + Western Ghats trap monsoon moisture → heavy rainfall, warm and humid, mild temperature range. |
| Jaipur | Edge of the Thar Desert, Rajasthan | Semi-arid to arid climate | Inland, near the desert → extremely hot, dry summers, cool nights/winters, and very little rainfall. |
Schematic diagram (not a survey map) showing which broad climate region each city falls in.
The two diagrams below (as given in the textbook, Fig. 3.9) show exactly what needs to be drawn and labelled:
Draw arrows starting over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, curving up and inward onto the Indian landmass — label them “southwest monsoon winds”. Mark the Indian landmass with a “Low Pressure” label, since the hot summer land creates low pressure that pulls in moist ocean winds.
Draw arrows starting from the Indian landmass (label it “High Pressure” since the cool winter land creates higher pressure) and pointing outward, down towards the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal — label them “northeast monsoon winds.” Show a small branch of arrows picking up moisture over the Bay of Bengal before curving into east/south India.
A poster should include a title such as “Festivals of the Indian Harvest & Seasons” with at least 5–6 festivals, each with a picture and a one-line caption linking it to farming/weather. The chapter’s own festival collage is a good visual reference to base drawings on:
| Festival | Season / Link to farming |
|---|---|
| Baisakhi | Marks harvesting of the rabi (wheat) crop in Punjab, mid-April. |
| Onam | Kerala’s harvest festival after the monsoon paddy crop. |
| Pongal | Tamil Nadu harvest festival thanking the Sun, earth and cattle. |
| Bihu (Bohag) | Assamese festival marking the start of the sowing season. |
| Makar Sankranti | Marks the sun’s northward journey and the harvest season across India. |
| Lohri | Punjab’s bonfire festival celebrating the winter harvest. |
Students should hand-draw or paste printed images for each festival with colourful borders and labels for their actual poster submission.
The heat has been unbearable this week, but the sky finally shows a few grey clouds building in the west — the monsoon must be close. Today I began preparing my fields for the sowing season. I ploughed the land early in the morning before the sun grew too strong, and repaired the small bunds around my fields so that the rainwater will stay in and not run off. I also cleared the drainage channel near the field, since last year’s heavy rain flooded a corner of my land and I lost some seedlings.
I visited the seed store in the village and bought good quality paddy seeds, since the monsoon is our main season for rice here. I checked my roof and repaired a leaking corner of the shed where I store the grain, so the stored wheat from the rabi season stays dry. My neighbour reminded me that the crows are building their nests low this year — the elders say that means heavy rain is coming, so I have decided to sow a little earlier than usual.
Tomorrow I will take the bullocks out for one last round of ploughing before the first showers arrive. If the rains are good this year, we should have a healthy kharif harvest by autumn.
Cyclones on India’s Coast
Every year, especially between April–June and October–December, the eastern coast of India faces powerful cyclones that form over the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. A cyclone develops when the sea surface heats up strongly, causing air above it to rise and creating an intense low-pressure system. Surrounding air rushes in to fill this low-pressure zone, and as this air gathers moisture and begins rotating around a calm central “eye,” wind speeds increase rapidly, sometimes crossing 150 km/h before the storm makes landfall.
Causes: The main natural cause is the warm ocean surface providing the energy and moisture needed for the storm to intensify, combined with the right wind conditions that allow rotation to build up. In recent decades, rising sea-surface temperatures linked to global climate change have been making some cyclones more frequent and more intense.
Impacts: Cyclones bring destructive winds, torrential rain and storm surges that flood low-lying coastal areas. They uproot trees, damage homes, roads and power lines, destroy standing crops and fishing boats, and can cause loss of human and animal life. The economic cost of rebuilding roads, homes and farmland after a major cyclone can run into thousands of crores of rupees, and recovery can take years for the poorest coastal families.
What can be done:
- Individuals: Keep an emergency kit ready (torch, radio, dry food, first-aid), follow India Meteorological Department (IMD) alerts, and evacuate promptly when officials advise it.
- Communities: Build and maintain community cyclone shelters, plant and protect mangrove forests along the coast (mangroves act as a natural buffer that reduces storm-surge damage), and organise local disaster-preparedness drills.
- Government: Strengthen early-warning systems, deploy the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for rescue and evacuation, enforce building codes for cyclone-resistant housing near the coast, and invest in coastal embankments and drainage.
Cyclones cannot be prevented, but with accurate forecasting, timely evacuation and resilient infrastructure, the loss of life and property they cause can be greatly reduced.