Download India Geography

Essential Question: How does the climate of an area
affect how people live?
What are
Monsoons?
Monsoons
•A monsoon is a wind
system that influences
large climatic regions
and reverses direction
seasonally.
•These seasonal winds
blow in from the
Indian Ocean
•Strong and violent
•Clouds full of heavy
moisture
•Most rain in South
Asia comes from these
summer rains
Mumbai, India: Skyline of Monsoon
How does the climate
of India, including
Monsoons, affect the
people?
Effects of Climate
•During most of the year people
wait for rain
•Averages temperatures are
between 70-110 all year
•People have to adapt to hot
temperatures during the year
•Heavy rain falls only for the
summer months (June, July,
August, September)
•Short growing season when
monsoons provide water for
agriculture
•Global rise in temperature
could have huge effects on this
delicate climate and create
deadly storms
When monsoons are strong(2013)
 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-22936533
When monsoons are weak (2012)
 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-19106967
What is the
Orographic Effect?
Orographic effect
•The prevailing wind blows clouds up against mountains, moist air rises up the slopes
and cools, this creates rain or snow on the windward slope. When the clouds cross over
the mountain they have little moisture left and there is a dry area on the leeward slope or
a rain shadow.
Effects of
Climate
•Western Ghat
Mountain
Range, creates
heavy rain on
the west coast
•Himalayan
Mountain Range
North has snow
while the South is
protected from
monsoon and is
humid not
wet/tropical
Climate
India is a peninsula that projects into the Indian Ocean
 Climate:
 In general, it has a hot and tropical climate



The Tropic of Cancer passes through India and its southern tip
stretches towards the Equator
However-climatic conditions will vary
In June: The monsoon season hits….Indians depend on
Monsoons!
What are the Climate
Zones of India?
Arid
Humid/
Subtropical
Semi-Arid
Tropical
Wet
Tropical
Wet and
Dry
How do these climate
zones affect the
people of India?
Calcutta, India
• When the monsoons
•
•
•
•
Ganges
River
come the river floods
Buses and taxis can’t
drive on flooded roads
But farmers need the
rain for crops and it is
a nice relief from the
heat
Garbage can clog up
water drainage system
Standing water allows
mosquitoes to breed so
diseases such as
malaria spread quickly
Calcutta, India
Pune, India
Mumbai, India
 West side of Western
Ghats Mts., much
rainfall during
monsoons
 People prepare for
monsoons here
Pune, India
 East side of Western
Ghats Mts., dry all year
 Grow crops that need
little to no rain
Mumbai, India
Pune, India
Dry farmland
Dry Mountain Side
Mountain Ranges
 The Himalayas-the largest mountain range in the
world-separate India from China
 The Himalaya Mountains are called “The Roof Top of
the World”
 The tallest mountain in this range (and in the world) is
Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Some Everest Quick Facts…
 Tallest mountain in the world.
 Number of people to successfully climb Mt. Everest: about
3,215 (by 2010)
 Number of people who have died trying to climb Mt.
Everest: 223
 Height: 5 ½ miles above sea level- this is equivalent to the
size of almost 20 Empire State Buildings.
 Location: part of the Himalaya mountain range; straddles
border of Nepal and Tibet.
India was also isolated on
the west by the Hindu
Kush Mountains
 The easiest way through
the Hindu Kush is
through the Khyber Pass
(located between
Afghanistan and
Pakistan)

The word Khyber means
“divide”
Khyber Pass
Khyber
Pass
Himalayan
Mountains
Ganges
River
Indus
River
Deccan
Plateau
Rivers
 The Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Indus are the three
major rivers in India.
 The Indus River is where the ancient civilization in
India was established.
 The Brahmaputra River is the most densely populated
area in India today
 The Ganges River is the most sacred of the rivers.
Ganges River
Ganges River
Ganges River
The Sacred Ganges
 According to Hindu mythology, the Ganges was once a
river of heaven that flowed across the sky.
 Problems
 Almost 1 billion liters of untreated raw sewage are
dumped into the river daily.
 Inadequate cremation procedures
 People use this river for everything!
The Sacred Ganges
 The river also serves as a
drinking source,
bathing hole and
baptism site.
 The river is one of the
only sources of water for
the some people of
India who can’t afford
running clean water.
Population Boom!
 The huge and rapidly growing population of India is
overstraining the natural resources found on the subcontinent.
 The population is about 1.2 billion people (2007
estimate)



1-China: about 1.3 billion
2-India: about 1.2 billion
3-US: about 300 million (…big difference huh?)
Global connections
 All over the world climates can effect:
 What type of housing people build
 What clothes they wear
 What months they


Go to school
Grow crops
 What they do for fun!
 This is important to think about as we study the world