MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. Write a short note on South West Monsoon Formation. (250 Words)
Paper & Topic: GS I Geography
Model Answer:
- The South West Monsoon Season lasts from June to the middle of September.
- The South West Monsoon Season is also known as the hot-wet season.
- The South West Monsoons’ sudden start is its key feature.
- When monsoon season begins, the temperature quickly drops and the humidity rises.
South West Monsoon Season Temperature:
- The sudden entrance of the South West Monsoons results in a sharp decrease in temperature [3° to 6°C].
- The weather fluctuates more during the wet season.
- The south-west monsoon season ends in September, and temperatures rise.
- The temperature rises when the monsoons are disrupted.
- The diurnal temperature range is quite small because of clouds and rain.
- West of the Aravali are the locations with the highest temperatures (38 to 40 °C). This is due to a lack of clouds and warm continental air masses.
- Several areas of northwest India see temperatures that approach 30 °C.
- The Western Ghats receive a lot of rain, which contributes to their relatively low temperatures.
- The coastal regions of Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh see temperatures above 30°C since they receive little rain at this time of year.
Factors Affecting the South-West Monsoon’s Formation:
Differential Heating and Cooling of Land and Water:
- Due to the differential heating and cooling of land and water, India’s landmass has low pressure while the waters that surround it have relatively high pressure.
- The formation of the South-West Monsoon is significantly impacted by this.
- The monsoon winds are as a result blowing the other way.
Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
- Throughout the summer, the ITCZ moves to the north, bringing monsoon rains to Kozhikode, India.
- In the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, the ITCZ swings south, bringing monsoon rains to Darwin, Australia.
- The fact that land cannot store heat as well as the ocean does has an impact on where the monsoon rains occur.
Existence of High-Pressure Areas:
- the presence of a high-pressure area over the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, at or near 20°S.
- The Indian Monsoon is affected by the size, location, and power of this high-pressure area.
- The summertime heat of the Tibetan plateau results in strong vertical air currents and the formation of low pressure over the plateau at a height of about 9 km above sea level.
Tropical Easterly Jet Stream:
- Tropical depressions are directed toward India by the easterly jet stream.
- The monsoon rains’ distribution across the Indian subcontinent is influenced by these depressions.
- India receives the maximum rainfall along these depressions’ pathways.
Southern Oscillation, or SO:
- The Southern Oscillation (SO) occurs when the tropical eastern south Pacific ocean gets high pressure and the tropical eastern Indian ocean experiences low pressure.
- However, every few years there is a pressure reversal when the eastern Pacific has lower pressure than the eastern Indian Ocean.
- The SO is a term used to describe a recurring change in pressure circumstances.
- While those conditions vary, the Indian Ocean remains far colder, yet summertime temperatures in certain parts of India can exceed 45 degrees Celsius.
- In other cases, the aforementioned factors also contribute to lower monsoons and even droughts.
Climate Change:
- The ability of the atmosphere to hold more water vapour as a result of global warming affects the behaviour of our monsoon.
- According to recent study, global warming would probably result in a wetter and riskier monsoon season in India.
- According to scientists, climate change has been causing long-term disruptions to the monsoon season.
- As a result of greenhouse gas-induced global warming, previous studies have indicated that there will be more rain during the summer monsoon season as well as unpredictable, heavy rainfall events.
The Importance of the Southwest Monsoon Season:
- Approximately half of India’s agricultural land is irrigated by the southwest monsoon.
- Around 70% of India’s yearly rainfall falls during the monsoon season, which has an impact on the yield of several significant kharif or summer crops like rice, pulses, and oilseeds like soybeans.
- Cotton, maize, paddy, soybean, peanut, bajra, and sesame are a few of the important crops that are dependent on monsoon rains.
- For the purpose of feeding and caring for their cows, Indian dairy farms rely on the Southwest Monsoon.
Conclusion:
- The Southwest Monsoon moves slowly southward from the distant northwest beginning in early September. However, the monsoon winds’ torrential rains can cause severe floods in India’s northern plains, which can lead to the destruction of property and the loss of lives. They are renowned for being erratic. Droughts are likely to occur in one area of the country while catastrophic floods and droughts are caused by dry and wet spells in another.
Q2. Write a short note on Inter Tropical Convergence Zones. (250 Words)
Paper & Topic: GS I Geography
Model Answer:
What is Inter Tropical Convergence Zone:
- Southeast trade winds from the southern hemisphere and northeast trade winds from the northern hemisphere meet up close to the equator.
- These winds congregate in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
- Rising air, the greatest number of clouds, and heavy rainfall are all present here.
- The ITCZ’s position shifts both north and south of the equator with the change of the seasons.
- In the summer, the ITCZ advances north and receives vertical sunlight at the Tropic of Cancer.
- The southeast trade winds of the southern hemisphere cross the equator and start to blow in a southwest to northeast direction due to the effect of Coriolis force.
- These displaced trade winds are referred to as south-west monsoons when they move across the Indian subcontinent.
- The Monsoon Front is the region where the South-West Monsoons and the North-East Trade Winds converge (ITCZ). Rain falls along this front.
- The south-west monsoon, which has its origins in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, falls on the Indo-Gangetic Plain, where the ITCZ switches to in July. The ITCZ is frequently referred to as the Monsoon Trough while it is in this position (highest rainfall).
- Due to the seasonal movement of the ITCZ, two zones have been named: the Northern Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (NITCZ) in the summer (July – rainy season) and the Southern Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (SITCZ) in the winter (Jan – dry season).
- The NITCZ, an area of clouds and torrential rain, has an impact on India.
Importance:
- In the global circulation system, the Intertropical Convergence Zone—also known as the Equatorial Convergence Zone or the Intertropical Front—plays a crucial role.
- It typically forms a belt of low pressure that circles Earth at its equator.
- A zone of convergence is where the trade winds converge.
- Due to the shift in position, rainfall in the equatorial region is influenced by the wet and dry seasons of the tropics rather than the cold and warm seasons of higher latitudes.