FACTORS AFFECTING INDIA’S CLIMATE

Factors Affecting India’s Climate

• Latitude, altitude and pressure and winds affect Indian climate.
• The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the country from the Rann of Kuchchh to Mizoram.
• Air temperature generally decreases from equator to poles.
• Temperature and air pressure decreases as on moves from surface of the earth to higher altitudes.
• The Himalayas prevent the cold winds from central Asia from entering the subcontinent.
• The climate and associated weather conditions in India are governed by various atmospheric conditions namely pressure and surface winds, upper air circulation, western cyclonic disturbances and tropical cyclones.
• The sea exerts a moderating influence on climate. People far away from sea experience extreme weather conditions. This is known as ‘continentality’.
• Ocean currents also affect the climate of the coastal areas.
• An apparent force caused by the earth’s rotation is the Coriolis Force.
• The wind direction changes as per the season. They are from northeast to south wet in winter whereas completely reverse in summer bringing moisture.
• Jet streams are narrow belts of high-altitude (above 12,000 m) westerly winds in the troposphere.
• The western cyclonic disturbances are weather phenomena of the winter months, brought in by the westerly flow from the Mediterranean region.