Indian Climate Indian Vegetation and Indian Wildlife, these are the topic which are interlinking each other which we can see in this post.
What is weather?
Weather is that which changes day to day atmosphere. it include the changes in Temperature, rainfall, sunshine.
Seasons recognized in India (Indian Climate)
Indian Climate consist of following seasons:
- Cold weather season (Winter) DECEMBER TO FEBRUARY
- Hot weather season (Summer) MARCH TO MAY
- Southwest Monsoon season (Rainy) JUNE TO SEPTEMBER
- Season of retreating Monsoon (Autumn) OCTOBER TO NOVEMBER
Cold weather season
During winter season the sun rays do not fall directly in the region temperature are quite low.
Hot weather season
During summer season the sun rays more or less directly fall in this region. Temperature becomes very high .
Hot and dry winds called loo.
South West Monsoon Season or Rainy season
These season is advance of monsoon.
The winds blow from arabian sea and bay of bengal toward the land .
They carry moiature with them .
When these winds strike to the mountain barriers , rainfall occurs.
Season of retreating monsoon or Autumn
Winds move back from the mainland to the Bay of Bengal.The southern parts of India, particularly Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh receive rainfall in this season.
Monsoon is taken from the Arabic word ‘mausim’, which means seasons. Due to India’s location in the tropical region।
Weather affect or not ?
- Agriculture in India is dependent on rains.
- Agriculture in India is dependent on rains. Good monsoons mean adequate rain and a bountiful crop.
- The location, altitude, distance from the sea, and relief are the factors which affecting The climate of a place.
Therefore, we experience regional differences in the Indian Climate. as we can see in the following list.
- Jaisalmer and Bikaner in the desert of Rajasthan are very hot, while Drass and Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir are freezing cold.
- Areas like Mumbai and Kolkata experience moderate climate. There are neither too hot nor too cold.
- Mawsynram in Meghalaya receives the world’s highest rainfall, while in a particular year, it might not rain at all in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
The grasses, shrubs and trees, which grow on their own without interference or help from human beings are called natural vegetation.
Types of Natural Vegetation in India
Different types of natural vegetation are dependent on different climatic conditions , among which rainfall is important.
Vegetation of India can be divided into five types
- Tropical evergreen forest
- Tropical deciduous forest
- Thorny bushes
- Mountain vegetation
- Mangrove forests.
Tropical Rain Forest
- Occurs in the areas which recieves heavy rainfall.
- They are so dense that sunlight does not reach to the ground.
- Many species of trees are found in these forests, which shed their leaves at different times of the year.
Therefore, they always appear.
- Important trees found in these forests are mahogany, ebony and rosewood.
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands, parts of North-Eastern states and a narrow strip of the Western slope of the Western Ghats are home of these forests.
Tropical deciduous forest
- In a large part of our country, we have this type of forest.
- This type of forest is also known as the monsoon forest.
- They are less dense.
- They shed their leaves at a particular time of year.
- Important trees of these forests are sal, teak, peepal, neem and shisham.
- They are found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and in parts of Maharashtra.
- This type of vegetation is in dry areas of the country.
- The leaves are in the form of spines to reduce the loss of water.
- Cactus, Khair, babool, keekar are important and are in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Eastern slopes of Western Ghats and Gujarat.
- According to variation in height a wide range of species is in the mountains.
- With an increase in height, the temperature falls. At a height between 1500 m to 2500 m most of the trees are conical in shape.
- These trees known as coniferous trees.
- Chir, Pine and Deodar are important trees of these forests.
- These forests can survive in saline water.
- They mainly exist in Sunderbans in West Bengal and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Sundari is a well-known species of trees in mangrove forests after which Sunderbans have been named.
Importance of forest
- Plants release oxygen that we breathe and absorb carbon dioxide.
- The roots of the plants bind the soil. thus, they control soil erosion
- Forests provide us with timber for furniture, fuelwood, fodder, medicinal plants and herbs, lac, honey, gum, etc.
- Forests are the natural habitat of wildlife.
- Natural vegetation has been destroyed to a large extent because of the reckless cutting of trees.
We should plant more trees and protect the existing ones and make people aware of the importance of trees.
- Forests are home to a variety of wildlife.
- There are thousands of species of animals and a large variety of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, insects and worms which dwell in the forest.
- The tiger is our national animal.
- Gir forest in Gujarat is the home of Asiatic lions.
- Elephants and one-horned rhinoceroses roam in the forests of Assam.
- Elephants also exist in Kerala and Karnataka. Camels and wild asses are in the Great Indian desert and the Rann of Kuchchh respectively.
- Wild goats, snow leopards, bears, etc. are in the Himalayan region.
Besides these, many other animals are in our country such as monkey, wolf, jackal, nilgai, cheetah, etc.
- India is equally rich in birdlife. The peacock is our national bird.
- Other common birds are parrots, pigeons, mynah, geese, bulbul and ducks.
- There are several bird sanctuaries which creating a better life for birds as like natural habitat.
- These provide the birds protection from hunters.
Can you name five birds of your area?
There are several hundreds of species of snakes in India.
Cobras and kraits are important among them. Due to the cutting of forests and hunting, several species of wildlife of India are declining rapidly. Many species have already become extinct.
In order to protect them many national parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves have been set up.
The Government has also started Project Tiger and Project Elephant to protect these animals.
Can you name some wildlife sanctuaries of India and locate them on a map?