Climate of Asia B A I (PPU) paper -2 unit-1
BY DR BHAWANA NIGAM DEPT OF GEOGRAPHY A N COLLEGE, PATNA What is climate?
Climate is the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area. Climate is the name for the general conditions of temperature and precipitation for an area over a long period of time. The climate of any region on the Earth is determined by two basic factors: temperature and precipitation. A region’s weather patterns, usually tracked for at least 30 years, are considered its climate. In the climate of any place; variables that are commonly measured are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and precipitation The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, and altitude, as well as nearby water bodies and their currents. What's the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is what the forecasters on the TV news predict each day. They tell people about the temperature, cloudiness, humidity, and whether a storm is likely in the next few days. That’s weather! It is the mix of events that happens each day in our atmosphere. Weather is not the same everywhere. It may be hot and sunny in one part of the world, but freezing and snowy in another.
Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. While the weather can change in just a few hours, climate takes hundreds, thousands, even millions of years to change. The continent of Asia:-
Asia has a wide variety of climate because of its gigantic size. These climatic regions include Verkhoyansk in Siberia which is the coldest place in the world and Jacobabad in the Sind Province of Pakistan, the hottest place in the world. Cherrapunji in India is the wettest place in the world and the driest deserts - Gobi (Tibet, Arabia and Mongolia) - get approximately 25 cms of annual rainfall. The 3 most important factors affecting the climate of Asia include:- The Latitudinal extent of the continent The size of the continent Height and direction of the central mountain ranges
SUMMER AND WINTER CONDITIONS OF ASIA
Winter: Winter season for most of Asia starts in October and lasts till March. The Himalayas form a climatic barrier against the bitterly cold northerly winds thus protecting Southern Asia from freezing temperatures. There is hardly any rainfall in Asia during winter as most of the winds are offshore.
Summer: Summer in Asia begins in April and lasts till June. The heat creates an area of low pressure in the Central Asia attracting moisture laden winds from surrounding areas and oceans. DISTRIBUTION OF ANNUAL RAINFALL OF ASIA
As it is evident from the map, Asia has distinct heavy, moderate and low rainfall regions. Areas of low rainfall: South-west Asia, Central Asia, Siberia, plateaus of the Central Highlands have low rainfall which is less than 50 cm per year. Areas of moderate rainfall: South-east Asia, Central and Southern China, the Philippines, Japan, northern parts of India fall in this category. These regions get 100 cm to 200 cm of rainfall every year. Areas of heavy rainfall: The Equatorial region, the southern face of the Himalayas and parts of South-east Asia get the direct onslaught of rain bearing winds. It is more than 200 cm per year. Climatic regions of Asia
1) TROPICAL MONSOON CLIMATE
This type of climate is found all over India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Southern China, parts of southern Japan and Pakistan.
These areas generally remain hot with alternate wet and dry seasons.
During monsoon season, some of the regions receive heavy precipitation.
Winters across these regions remain dry except in a few areas.
The rainy season is quite distinct. And The pattern of the monsoonal winds keep on chancing. 2) TROPICAL DESERT CLIMATE OF ASIA This type of climate is experienced in the Thar Desert of India and Pakistan, and in parts of Iran and Arabia. It has extremes of hot and cold climate with a large diurnal and annual range of temperature. The summers are quite hot and winters are cool. The hot deserts are in the South-east Asia and the cold deserts are in the central parts of Asia. Very little precipitation occurs in these deserts. 3) CHINA TYPE OF CLIMATE OF ASIA
Northern and Central China, Japan and Korea experience this climate. This climate is quite like that of tropical monsoon except that it is colder during the winter with occasional snowfall. The summers are warm and the winters are very cold. During the peak winter months, temperatures fall below freezing point. Most of the rainfall occurs during summer, but the winters sometimes have stormy gust. 4) MID-LATITUDE TEMPERATE DESERT CLIMATE 5) MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE OF ASIA OF ASIA
Western parts of Asia, Lebanon, Syria, It is found in the regions of the Gobi Turkey and Israel have this type of climate. desert and the Tibetan Plateau. It is characterized by warm dry summers It has hot and dry summers and freezing and cool wet winters. cold winters. The name 'Mediterranean' has come from the fact that this is a typical climate found Moderate precipitation occurs in winter. around the Mediterranean Sea and occurs due to 'shifting of pressure belts’. There is moderate rainfall during the winter months, which comes in short but heavy spells. 6) STEPPS OR TEMPERATE GRASSLAND 7) TAIGA OR COLD TEMPERATE CLIMATE OF CLIMATE OF ASIA ASIA This type of climate is found around the Central Siberian region experiences Caspian Sea in Western Asia. this kind of climate. Russia and Ukraine are the main It is located in the south of extremely countries located here. cold tundra belt. It starts from the south of the taiga belt. It has short, cool summers and long cold winters. Summers are warm and winters are cold. Annual rainfall is low, (varying Precipitation, which occurs during from 25 to 75 cm) and occurs in summer, is moderate but it helps in summers. the growth of trees as there is not much evaporation. Winters are cold and dry. Summer temperature goes up to 20 degree C. 8) TUNDRA TYPE OF CLIMATE OF ASIA This type of climate prevails in Northern Siberia along the northern coast of Asia. It has long and very cold winters with temperatures reaching below freezing point. A short and cool summer occurs during the months of May and June. This area remains under snow almost all through the year. THANKS