NCERT Solutions Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 7 · SOCIAL SCIENCE

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 3: Climates of India

NCERT Textbook — Exploring Society: India And Beyond (Part I)

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

45 – 66 20 45 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 49 pages

Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 7 · SOCIAL SCIENCE · EXPLORING SOCIETY: INDIA AND BEYOND (PART I)

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 3: Climates of India
Complete NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India, from Theme A India and the
World: Land and the People of Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part I. Every question in the chapter is
answered — the five Big Questions, all six LET'S EXPLORE boxes, both LET'S REMEMBER boxes, the THINK
ABOUT IT box on clouds, all three DON'T MISS OUT boxes, the in-text questions on pages 46, 49, 50, 59 and
64, Before we move on …, and all seven Questions and activities including the full matching answer.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part I) (Class 45 – 66
7)

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

20 45

MEDIUM

English

The Big Questions — Page 45
Chapter opening — India and the World: Land and the People

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Q1 What makes India's climate so diverse?

India has almost every climate the world has, packed into one country, because the five climate-
making factors all vary enormously across India — latitude, altitude, distance from the sea,
winds and topography.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

FACTOR HOW MUCH IT VARIES IN INDIA WHAT THAT PRODUCES

Latitude From the Nicobar Islands almost on the Kanniyakumari and the Nicobars are warm all
Equator to Ladakh far north year; Srinagar and Leh are cold

Altitude From sea level to Himalayan peaks Alpine climate on the peaks, temperate hill
kilometres high stations lower down, hot plains below

Proximity to A very long coastline, but also places deep Mumbai's mild 32°C–18°C against Nagpur's
the sea inland extreme 44°C–10°C

Winds Hot dry winds from Arabia, cold winds Heat waves in the north-west, cold waves in the
from across the Himalayas, moist monsoon foothills, heavy monsoon rain on the coasts
winds from the ocean

Topography Mountains, plateaus, plains and a flat desert The Himalayas shield India from Central
Asian cold; the Western Ghats squeeze rain out
of the monsoon

The result is the list the chapter gives on page 48 — seven climates in one country:

Alpine — the Himalayan mountains: cold, snowy winters and cool summers.
Temperate — the lower Himalayas and many hilly areas: moderately cold winters, summers
not too hot. This is where the hill stations are.
Subtropical — the northern plains: very hot summers, cold winters. Most of India's wheat
grows here.
Arid — the Thar Desert in the west: extremely hot days, cool nights, very little rain.
Tropical wet — the western coastal strip: heavy monsoon rain, good for rice and spices.
Semi-arid — the central Deccan Plateau: hot summers, mild winters, moderate rain.
Tropical — eastern India and the southern peninsula: mild winter, distinct wet and dry
periods set by the monsoon winds.

Why it happens: climate is not one thing acting alone. Ooty and Coimbatore sit at
almost the same latitude, yet Ooty is 15°C cooler because of altitude. Mumbai and
Nagpur sit at almost the same latitude, yet Nagpur swings 34°C across the year
because it has no sea nearby. Change any one of the five factors and the climate
changes with it — and in India every one of them changes as you travel.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 What are the monsoons? How are they formed?

The word ‘monsoon’ comes from the Arabic word mausim, meaning ‘season’. Strictly it means
the seasonal winds that blow over a large area of the Indian Ocean and the regions around it —
including Australia, Africa and South Asia. Because those winds bring the rains, in everyday
Indian speech ‘monsoon’ has come to mean the seasonal rains themselves.
How they are formed rests on one simple fact: land heats up and cools down faster than the
ocean.

SUMMER WINTER
southwest monsoon northeast monsoon
moist winds from sea → rain dry winds from land → little rain

hot Asian land — LOW pressure cold land — HIGH pressure

cool ocean HIGH pressure warm ocean LOW pressure

The monsoon reversal, drawn from Fig. 3.9. Air always flows from high pressure to low pressure, so
the arrows simply follow the pressure difference between land and sea.

1. Summer. The Asian landmass heats up and a powerful low-pressure system forms over it.
Since air always flows from high pressure to low pressure, winds are drawn from the cooler,
high-pressure ocean towards the hot land. These sea winds carry moisture, which
condenses over the warmer land and falls as heavy monsoon rain.
2. Winter. The pattern reverses. The land cools faster than the ocean, so now the land has high
pressure and the warmer ocean has relatively low pressure. The winds blow the opposite
way — from land to ocean — bringing dry conditions to much of Asia.

In India the summer or southwest monsoon rains typically reach the southern tip in early
June and move north over several weeks, covering the whole subcontinent by mid-July. The
Western Ghats act as a natural barrier: their western slopes get heavy rain while the Deccan
Plateau east of them gets less, and often with interruptions. In winter the northeast monsoon
blows out from the land; part of it crosses the Bay of Bengal, picks up moisture and brings rain
to parts of east and south India.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
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Culture Festivals, rituals, music and Vasanta Pañchamī, Śharad Pūrṇima; Bihu, Pongal, Onam, Baisakhi,

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

DISASTER WHAT UNDERSTANDING THE WHAT WE CAN THEN DO
CLIMATE TELLS US

Cyclones They strike the Indian coastline, especially the The India Meteorological Department (IMD)
eastern coast, every year, and they form over tracks their formation, evolution and place of
low-pressure areas at sea landing; the NDRF evacuates people in time

Floods They come mainly during the monsoon, and hit Build embankments and warning systems,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh keep drains clear, stop construction on
and Assam hardest waterways

Glacial They follow fast glacier melt or days of heavy Monitor glacial lakes, regulate building near
bursts rain in the Himalayas river valleys, plan pilgrim routes carefully

Landslides They occur in hilly regions during the monsoon, Follow approved construction methods, keep
and worsen where forests are cut slopes forested, restrict building

Forest fires They are fuelled by dry conditions, droughts and Prepare fire lines and watch-towers before the
high winds — so the risky months are known dry season, warn against carelessness

Understanding the link between the causes of climate change and disasters also does
something larger: it supports the need for more environment-friendly practices and for
building resilience and adaptation in communities — that is, the capacity to withstand a
disaster and recover quickly from it.

Did you know? The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is trained for both
natural and human-made disasters, and its battalions are stationed at 12 different
locations across India so that help is never too far from where it is needed.

Q5 What is climate change? What are its consequences?

Climate change means significant, long-term changes in the climate — shifts in temperature,
precipitation and weather events. It can be on the scale of the whole planet or of one region.
What causes it. For millions of years, natural processes drove climate change. But since the
19th century it has been driven largely by human activities:

the burning of fossil fuels — coal, petroleum oil and natural gas;
deforestation;
environmentally harmful industrial practices;
patterns of excessive or wasteful consumption.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

These release huge amounts of greenhouse gases. A natural greenhouse effect is what keeps
Earth warm enough for life; the problem is that industry, transport and agriculture have added
enormous quantities of these gases in just a few centuries, trapping extra heat and causing
rapid global warming.
The consequences:

Extremes of weather and temperature, with severe effects on both the natural and the
human worlds.
Disruption of climate patterns that plants, animals and human societies had adapted to
over thousands of years.
More and fiercer disasters — cyclones, floods, glacial bursts, forest fires.
Damage to the economy. Early in 2025 India's average temperature was 1 to 3°C above
normal, so the winter was much shorter and milder than usual — which affects agricultural
production and many small-scale industries.

What is being done. Governments worldwide, including India's, promote mitigation — cutting
greenhouse gas emissions, planting trees, boosting renewable energy, improving energy
efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles. The chapter is honest about the difficulty: these
measures often clash with the desire for economic growth and increased consumption.

In-text Questions — Page 46
Weather, Seasons and the Climate

Q1 ‘Climate’ is a word people use in everyday conversations. But, quite often, what
they really mean is ‘weather’, and not ‘climate’. What's the difference?

The difference is the length of time you are talking about.

WEATHER CLIMATE

Time scale What we experience every hour or day The pattern over a long period — several decades
at least

Does it It keeps changing, all the time It usually stays stable over long periods
change?

Examples ‘It is raining’; ‘there is bright sunshine’; ‘The Thar Desert has an arid climate’; ‘the
‘there is a lot of wind today’ northern plains have a subtropical climate’

How you find Look out of the window Study records of temperature, rainfall and wind
it out over thirty years or more

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Tip: a one-line way to remember it — weather is a mood, climate is a personality.
A cheerful person can have a bad day (a rainy day in a dry region); that does not
change who they are.

Q2 Are seasons related to the weather or to the climate?

To both. That is the answer the book itself gives.

Seasons and weather: the weather changes with the season. It can be dry and hot in the
summer months, or humid and rainy during the monsoon.
Seasons and climate: the pattern of seasons in a region is closely connected with its climate.
Most of the world has four main seasons — spring, summer, autumn and winter — but India
also receives rainfall during a specific period of the year, the ‘rainy season’ or monsoon,
along with the other four.

Seasons occur as the Earth revolves around the Sun. Each season lasts a few months and
recurs every year, in a cycle. Traditionally, in many parts of India the year is divided into six
seasons or ṛitus:

ṚITU IN ENGLISH A FESTIVAL THE CHAPTER NAMES

vasanta spring Vasanta Pañchamī

grīṣhma summer

varṣhā rainy season

śharad autumn Śharad Pūrṇima

hemanta pre-winter

śhiśhir winter

Why the answer must be ‘both’: a single season is a stretch of weather you live
through this year — that is weather. But the fact that every year brings the same six
seasons in the same order is a long-term pattern — and a long-term pattern is
exactly what climate means.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 47

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Seasons in your own region

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Which are your favourite seasons? Write a short essay explaining your reasons.

This is your own essay, so no one can write it for you — but a good one does three things: it
names the season, it gives reasons of at least two kinds (what the weather is like, and what
you do in it), and it connects the season to your own place — the food, the festival, the flower,
the game.
A plan you can follow:

1. Name the season and the months it covers where you live.
2. Describe the weather — temperature, rain, wind, light.
3. Say what changes around you — trees, birds, crops, clothes.
4. Say what you do in it — a festival, a food, a game, a holiday.
5. End with one sentence on why it beats the other seasons for you.

Sample answer: “Varṣhā, the rainy season, is my favourite. From late June to September the sky
over our town turns grey and the first shower washes the dust off every leaf. The air smells of
wet earth, and the temperature drops from a hard 40°C to a comfortable 30°C. The fields behind
our house turn from brown to a green so bright it hurts the eyes, and the frogs begin calling at
night. We get hot bhajiyā and tea in the evening, and paper boats in the drain outside. I like the
rains most because they are the season that brings everything else to life — without them there
would be no crop, no festival at harvest, and no water in our well.”

Tip: avoid ‘I like summer because it is nice’. Replace every ‘nice’ with a fact — a
temperature, a smell, a food, a sound.

Q2 Discuss in groups of three or four and find out whether there are specific events
connected to the seasons in your region. Collect information about them — songs,
feasts with specific types of food, practices in different seasons, etc. Document
these and share your discoveries with your class.

How to do the activity:

1. Split the year between your group — one member takes each season.
2. Ask at home and in the neighbourhood: which festival falls in this season? What is cooked for
it? Is there a song, a dance, a rangoli, a special dress?
3. Note why the event falls in that season — most are tied to sowing, harvest or the first rain.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
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4. Make one chart with four or six columns (one per season) and pin up photographs or
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SEASON EVENT WHY IT FALLS THEN FOOD, SONG, PRACTICE

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TREE LOCAL NAMES WHAT IT DOES

Sal sāl, sakhua Sheds leaves in the dry months; new leaves flush pink-
brown

Teak sāgwān, teku Big leaves turn brown and drop in the cold-dry season

Flame of the palāsh, ṭesu, kiṁśuka Drops its leaves, then flowers a blazing orange on bare
forest branches

Silk cotton semal, śhālmali Bare in winter, then covered with red flowers

Indian almond badām, deśhi bādām Leaves turn bright red and yellow before falling

Amaltas amaltās, Golden Shower tree, Thins out, then hangs with yellow flowers — the
kaṇikkonna monsoon signal in the south

Why it happens: shedding leaves is how a tree saves water. A leaf loses water
constantly through tiny pores. When the soil is dry and cold — or dry and hot — the
tree cannot replace that water, so it drops the leaves and waits. The colour change
comes first: the tree pulls the green pigment (chlorophyll) and useful food back out
of the leaf before letting it go, and the yellow, orange and red pigments that were
always there are left showing. In cold-winter places like the Himalayan slopes the
same trick protects the tree from frost, which is why the chapter says trees shed
leaves or change colour as śharad approaches.

How to document: for each tree note the local name, the botanical name if you can find it, the
month it drops its leaves, the month it flowers, and stick in one pressed leaf. Ask an elder or a
gardener for names your books may not carry.

In-text Questions — Page 49
Factors Determining the Climate

Q1 What creates those different climates?

Many factors, working together. Some are general ones — on the scale of the planet — while
others are regional or even local. The chapter examines five of them.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

# FACTOR SCALE THE RULE IN ONE LINE

a) Latitude Planetary Low latitudes are warm, high latitudes are cold, because of the
angle of the sun's rays

b) Altitude Regional Temperature falls as height above sea level rises

c) Proximity to the Regional The sea moderates temperature; inland places are more
sea extreme

d) Winds Regional Winds carry heat, cold and moisture from far away

e) Topography Regional and Mountains block winds or force them to rise and rain
local

The chapter is careful to add, in ‘Putting it all together…’, that the climate of any region is
determined collectively by all the above factors. Describing a climate means describing the
patterns of temperature, precipitation (rain or snowfall, fog or mist) and wind conditions in a
region over three decades or more.

Did you know? On a very small scale these factors can produce a microclimate — a
climate localised in a small area that differs from the region around it, like an
enclosed valley, a forest, or an ‘urban heat island’ where concrete traps heat and
there is little vegetation.

LET'S REMEMBER — Page 49
a) Latitude

LET'S REMEMBER

Q1 We studied about latitudes in Grade 6. Do you remember that latitudes measure the
distance from the Equator, increasing as we move away from it (either northward or
southward)? While the climate around the Equator is extremely hot, as the latitude
increases it becomes temperate and then cold or frigid. Why is this so?

Because of the angle at which the sun's rays hit a particular area — and because of how much
atmosphere they must cross to get there.

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POLE

rays oblique
same energy spread over a large area → COL
longest path through the atmosphere

EQUATOR

rays nearly perpendicular
energy squeezed into a small area → HOT
shortest path through the atmosphere

atmosphere

The idea behind Fig. 3.4. The same bundle of sunlight lands on a small patch at the Equator and on a
wide, stretched patch near the pole.

Two reasons, both shown in Fig. 3.4:

1. The angle. At the Equator the rays are nearly perpendicular, so all their energy is focused
on a smaller area of the Earth's surface. In the polar regions the rays are inclined or
oblique, and the same energy is distributed over a larger surface — so each square metre
gets less.
2. The path through the atmosphere. Slanting rays have to pass through more of the Earth's
atmosphere, which further dissipates their energy.

As a result the polar regions receive less heat than the equatorial zone, and the climate goes
from extremely hot at the Equator, to temperate, to cold or frigid as latitude increases.

Check it yourself: the chapter's Indian example — Kanniyakumari and the
Nicobar Islands, being close to the Equator, are warm or hot almost throughout the
year, whereas northern places such as Srinagar are much cooler.

In-text Questions — Page 50
b) Altitude

Q1 We know they are located at a higher altitude than the plains below, but how does
that explain their cooler temperature?

The chapter gives two simple reasons why temperature decreases as altitude increases.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

1. The air gets thinner. Atmospheric pressure — and therefore air density — decreases as
altitude increases (as we saw in the chapter ‘Understanding the Weather’). As the air gets
less dense, it gets cooler.
2. You are farther from the heated surface. The Sun heats the surface of the Earth, and the
air is warmed from below. So the farther away from the surface you are, the less hot the air
will be.

That is why the Himalayas are so high that many peaks stay below water's freezing point all
year and remain covered in snow — and why hill stations are popular tourist centres.

HILL STATION STATE / REGION

Munnar, Theni, Udhagamandalam (Ooty) Kerala and Tamil Nadu — the Western Ghats and Nilgiris

Madikeri, Mahabaleshwar Karnataka and Maharashtra — the Western Ghats

Mount Abu Rajasthan — the Aravalli Range

Shimla, Nainital, Darjeeling Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal — the Himalayas

Tawang, Shillong Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya — the North-East

Tip: people climbing a mountain often expect it to get warmer because they are
moving closer to the Sun. The distance saved is a few kilometres out of about 150
million — nothing at all. What matters is the thin air and the distance from the warm
ground below.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 51
b) Altitude — Ooty and Coimbatore

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Udhagamandalam (Ooty) and Coimbatore are almost at the same latitude. The
range of summer temperatures in Ooty is 10–25° while that in Coimbatore is 25–38°.
Why do you think there is such a difference in temperature between these two
places?

Because of altitude. Latitude is the same for both, so it cannot be the reason — the one factor
that differs sharply is height above sea level.

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Ooty — up in the Nilgiri hills, at roughly 2,200 m
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LET'S REMEMBER — Page 52
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d) Winds — the water cycle
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LET'S REMEMBER

Q1 In your Grade 6 Science textbook ‘Curiosity’ you studied the water cycle! “The water
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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

clouds

moist wind rain, hail or snow

evaporation

SEA LAND

Water leaves the sea as vapour, wind carries it over the land, and it comes back down as precipitation.
Without the wind in the middle, the water would simply fall back into the sea.

The three steps, and what each has to do with wind:

1. Evaporation — water leaves the ocean and the Earth's surface as invisible vapour. This is
why a wind that has just crossed the sea is a moist wind, and a wind that has crossed the
deserts of Arabia and Afghanistan is a dry one.
2. Transport — the wind carries that vapour over the land. Winds affect not only temperature
but also humidity, and in turn precipitation.
3. Condensation and return — the vapour condenses into clouds and returns as rain, hail or
snow.

Why this matters for the next section: the monsoon is nothing but this cycle
running on a giant scale and on a yearly timetable. Sea winds pick up moisture, the
hot Indian land makes them rise and cool, and the water comes down as the
monsoon rain. Recall the cycle and the monsoon stops being mysterious.

DON'T MISS OUT — Page 55

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The Monsoons

DON'T MISS OUT

Q1 Mawsynram, located in Meghalaya, receives the highest average annual rainfall in
the world, about 11,000 mm (which is the same as 11 metres!).

Yes — and the number is worth pausing over. Eleven metres of rain in a year is water higher
than a three-storey building, falling on the same spot.

11,000 mm = 11 m of rain in a year

Average for the whole of India ≈ 1,200 mm

So Mawsynram gets about 9 times the Indian average

Why Mawsynram, of all places? It is the chapter's five factors acting together:

Moisture-laden winds sweep north from the Bay of Bengal across the flat, wet plains of
Bangladesh — a long run over water with nothing to dry them out.
They then meet the Khasi Hills head-on. This is topography at work: the hills force the air to
rise sharply.
Rising air cools, the vapour condenses, and the water comes down — on the same slope, day
after day, through the monsoon months.

Did you know? Nearby Cherrapunji (Sohra) holds the record for the most rain in a
single year. Despite all that water, both places can face shortages in the dry season,
because the steep slopes carry the rain away almost as fast as it falls.

Q2 The monsoons have inspired many ragās in both Carnatic and Hindustani classical
music. Meghamalhār and amruthavarshini are names of a couple of them.

Both names are made of rain-words, which is the point the box is making — the monsoon is
not only an economic event in India, it is part of the country's art.

RĀGA TRADITION WHAT THE NAME MEANS

Meghamalhār Hindustani megha = cloud; Malhār is the family of monsoon rāgas

Amruthavarshini Carnatic amruta = nectar, varṣhiṇī = she who rains — ‘she who showers nectar’

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A famous tradition holds that Tansen could bring rain by singing Megh Malhār, and that the
composer Muthuswami Dikshitar ended a drought with Amruthavarshini. Whether or not one
takes the stories literally, they show how completely Indian culture wove the monsoon into
music.

Try This: listen to one recording of each and note what the two have in common —
both are usually sung in the rainy season, and both build a mood of waiting for the
cloud to break.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 56
Traditional knowledge and predicting the monsoon

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Since the ability to predict the monsoon rainfall has been an important aspect of
life in India, our ancestors observed Nature around them carefully. They developed
local traditional knowledge through their experience. This traditional knowledge is
an important heritage we must preserve. For example, fishermen on the Konkan
coast predict the onset of the monsoon when fishes that normally stay under water
are seen at the surface; in parts of southern India monsoon is said to arrive within
50 days after the Golden Shower tree (Cassia fistula) blossoms. Some communities
also believe that when crows build their nests high on tree-tops, it indicates less
rainfall, whereas if the nests are lower, rainfall is likely to be heavy. Make a list of
such local knowledge about rain, fog, snow or hail in your area.

How to make the list. Talk to the people who must read the sky for a living — farmers,
fishermen, shepherds, gardeners, potters and masons. For each sign write down four things:
the sign, what it is said to foretell, how many days ahead, and who told you. Then keep a
diary for one season and mark each sign ‘came true / did not come true’.
Sample answer — a list a student might collect:

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

SIGN OBSERVED WHAT IT IS SAID POSSIBLE REASON BEHIND IT
TO MEAN

Ants carrying eggs in a long line to Heavy rain within a Insects sense the fall in air pressure and
higher ground day or two rising humidity

Peacocks calling and dancing The monsoon is close Their breeding season is tuned to the first
rains

Swallows and dragonflies flying Rain the same evening Damp, heavy air keeps the small insects they
very low hunt near the ground

A ring (halo) around the moon Rain within two or Thin high cirrus cloud, which often runs
three days ahead of a rain system

Cattle refusing to lie down, or A storm is coming Animals react to the drop in pressure and
huddling together change in wind

Thick, early morning fog in winter A clear, cold, rainless Fog forms on calm, clear nights when heat
over the fields day escapes the ground

The amaltās (Golden Shower) in Monsoon within about The tree flowers with the pre-monsoon rise
full bloom 50 days in temperature

Why this knowledge deserves respect: none of these people had satellites. What
they had was generations of careful observation of the same place — and animals
and plants really do respond to pressure, humidity and temperature before we
notice the change. Modern forecasting is more accurate over large areas, but
traditional signs are local, free and immediate. The chapter calls this ‘an important
heritage we must preserve’, and the surest way to lose it is not to write it down.

Check it yourself: when you record a sign, also record the date it appeared and the
date the rain actually came. A sign that works four times out of five is genuine local
knowledge; one that works once in five is a saying.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 56

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
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Climate and our Lives — festivals and dances
co m
em.
m as
LET'S EXPLORE

.co a g l
a s em out to your grandparents or elders in your neighbourhood. Ask them about
gl
Reach
a
Q1
the traditional festivals and dances they remember from their childhood and youth,
especially those related to agriculture and rain. What rituals did they participate in?

. com
Then organise a cultural fest with your friends. You can showcase some of the
ag
m shared with you. Whether it is a dance,
dances, songs and activities youreelders
s
a
agl about a prayer to rain gods, try to bring these
harvest ritual, or a simple story
traditions to life for your classmates.

co m
e m.
as

m l
.co
Step 1 — the interview. Fix a time, carry a notebook, and ask open questions rather than
m a g
a se
yes/no ones:
l
a g Which festival did you look forward to most as a child? Which month did it fall in?

m
What was cooked, and who cooked it? Was any of it made only for that festival?
a s
em
Was there a song or dance? Can you sing a line of it?
.co agl
a s
ag—l and why?
Was there a ritual asking for rain, or thanking the earth after harvest?
What has changed since then

m
Step 2 — record it properly. Write the elder's name and age, the village or town, and the year

. co
m
they are remembering. If they allow it, record the song on a phone. Ask permission before

o m
photographing anyone.
l a se
m .c— the cultural fest. Divide into teams: one for dance, oneagfor songs, one for food, one
se a display board of photographs and written accounts. Invite one or two of the elders as
Step 3

g l afor
a guests — and let them speak. That single step turns a school programme into what the chapter

se m
a
is really asking for.
om up:
Sample answer — one elder's account,.cwritten
a g l
a s em
QUESTION WHAT MYa gl
GRANDMOTHER SAID

Festival Pongal, in mid-January, right after the harvest
co m
m .
as e
com l
Ritual Rice boiled in new clay pots with the first harvest; when the milk boiled over everyone shouted

. a g
m
ase
“Pongalo Pongal!” The sun was thanked first, then the cattle were bathed, their horns painted, and

agl
garlanded on Mattu Pongal

.c
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Song / dance Kolattam with sticks in the courtyard; a song asking for good rain the next year

m a s e
. co agl
Rain ritual
m
In a dry year the village women poured water over the temple's stone bull and sang for rain

as e
What
a g l
The cattle are fewer now and the pots are steel, but the boiling over is still the moment everyone waits
changed for

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m .
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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why almost every Indian festival sits on a season: before calendars and cold
storage, the farming year was the year. Festivals mark its turning points — sowing,
first rain, harvest, the sun's northward turn. Fig. 3.11 shows eleven of them, from
Bihu in Assam to Onam in Kerala and Losoong in Sikkim, and each one is a season
with a name.

DON'T MISS OUT — Page 58
Climates and Disasters — a) Cyclones

DON'T MISS OUT

Q1 The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is specially trained to respond to
natural as well as human-made disasters. NDRF battalions are located at 12
different locations in India. The NDRF has played a key role in rescue and
evacuation during disasters like cyclones, landslides and floods.

Two ideas are packed into this box.

WHAT THE BOX SAYS WHY IT IS DESIGNED THAT WAY

Trained for Natural and human-made A building collapse, a chemical leak or a train accident needs
both kinds disasters the same skills as a flood rescue — rope work, boats, cutting
equipment, first aid

Spread over 12 Battalions are stationed In a disaster the first hours decide who survives. A force
locations across the country, not in parked in one city would arrive too late for the rest
one place

Notice how this connects to the section it sits in. The IMD watches a cyclone form and says
where it will land; the NDRF is already positioned to evacuate that coast. Prediction plus
preparation is exactly the answer to Big Question 4 — understanding the climate is what
makes a rescue possible before the disaster, not only after it.

Did you know? Odisha's 1999 super cyclone killed about ten thousand people.
When Cyclone Fani struck the same coast in 2019 — the storm in Fig. 3.13 — early
warnings and a mass evacuation kept the death toll to a tiny fraction of that.
Warning systems and trained forces save lives.

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In-text Questions — Page 59
a) Cyclones

Q1 How are cyclones formed?

A cyclone begins as a low-pressure system over the sea and grows when that low pressure
becomes intense and the winds become fast.

clouds rotate inwards around the centre

eye

cloudless

moist air rushes in moist air rushes in

warm sea

The structure described on page 59 and photographed in Figs. 3.13 and 3.14 — a ring of cloud
spiralling in, with a clear centre.

Step by step, in the chapter's own order:

1. In some special situations the atmospheric pressure near the sea becomes lower than in
the surrounding areas, creating a low-pressure system.
2. This is “an invitation to the air from surrounding areas to come into the low-pressure area”.
Air from the sea moves in, bringing with it moisture and rain.
3. When the low-pressure system is intense and the wind speeds are high, this may result in a
cyclone.
4. As the winds collect moisture they form clouds and rotate inwards towards the centre of
the depression.
5. That centre is cloudless, and is called ‘the eye of the cyclone’ (Fig. 3.14).

Where and what it does. Every year the Indian coastline — especially the eastern coast —
witnesses several cyclones. The destructive ones cause loss of human and animal life, damage
property and infrastructure, uproot trees and cause soil erosion. The India Meteorological

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Department (IMD) keeps track of coming cyclones and provides information on their
formation, evolution and place of landing.

Why the eye is calm: the air spiralling inwards rises in the ring of cloud around the
centre. In the very middle, air sinks gently instead — and sinking air does not form
cloud. So the most violent storm on Earth has a patch of quiet blue sky at its heart. It
is also the most dangerous moment for anyone on the ground: when the eye passes
over, people think the storm is finished, and step outside just before the far wall of
wind arrives.

THINK ABOUT IT — Page 59
a) Cyclones — what clouds are made of

THINK ABOUT IT

Q1 What are clouds? White lumps in the sky, you might say. But what are they made
of? The answer is simple — water. But not just any water; clouds are masses of
water droplets, ice crystals, or a mixture of both, that are suspended in the
atmosphere.

Clouds are made of water — but not of water vapour. That is the point worth thinking about,
and it is where most people go wrong.

FORM OF CAN YOU SEE IT? WHERE IT IS IN THE SKY
WATER

Water vapour No — it is completely invisible Everywhere in the air around you, right
now

Water droplets Yes, when there are enough of them The white of a low or middle cloud
together

Ice crystals Yes High, cold clouds — the thin wispy ones

So a cloud is a mass of tiny water droplets, ice crystals, or a mixture of both, suspended in
the atmosphere. They form when moist air rises, cools, and the invisible vapour condenses on
to specks of dust into droplets too small to fall.

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Why a cloud floats although water is heavy: the droplets are unimaginably small
— thousands of them would fit across the full stop at the end of this sentence.
Something that small falls so slowly that the gentlest upward movement of air holds
it up. Rain begins only when droplets collide and merge until they are heavy enough
to win against the rising air.

Check it yourself: the white plume from a kettle is not steam either. The invisible
gap right at the spout is the true steam; the white cloud you see a centimetre away
is condensed droplets — a miniature cloud, made in your kitchen.

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 60

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
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b) Floods
co m
e m.
m as
LET'S EXPLORE

.co a g l
a s em you seen or read about floods? Look at the physical map of India. Discuss in
gl
Have
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pairs why you think floods occur in the areas mentioned above.

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70° E 75° E 80° E 85° E 90° E 95° E

LEGEND Height above sea level (metres)

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0 – 150 150 – 300 300 – 600 600 – 1500 1500 – 3000 3000 – 5000 Above 5000

m
m ase
River (arrow = direction of flow) International boundary Mountain peak

e m . co agl
g l as
a
The physical map of India given at the end of the book — redrawn here with its legend
and its latitude and longitude lines.
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s e m
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g l as
a

The states the chapter names are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.

co m
m .
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.co


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Put a physical map beside that list and the reason jumps out: every one of them is either a great
river plain or a heavy-rainfall coast — or both.

STATE WHAT THE PHYSICAL MAP WHY IT FLOODS
SHOWS

Assam The Brahmaputra valley, shut in by hills, An enormous volume of water in a narrow, almost
fed by Himalayan snow-melt; very heavy flat valley with nowhere to spread; the river also
monsoon rain in the North-East carries huge amounts of silt, which raises its bed

Bihar The northern Ganga plain, crossed by the Rivers drop from steep mountains on to a flat plain,
Kosi, Gandak and Ghaghara coming down lose speed, deposit silt and spill over. The Kosi is
from Nepal called ‘the sorrow of Bihar’ for shifting its course

Uttar The Ganga–Yamuna plain, extremely flat, A slope so gentle that water drains away slowly;
Pradesh very densely settled heavy monsoon rain upstream arrives all at once

Kerala A narrow coastal strip with the Western The Ghats squeeze very heavy rain out of the
Ghats immediately behind it; tropical wet southwest monsoon, and the short, steep rivers
climate reach the sea in hours, not days

Andhra The Krishna and Godavari deltas on the Low, flat delta land plus the cyclones that regularly
Pradesh east coast strike the eastern coast, bringing torrential rain and
sea surge together

Two more kinds of flood the chapter adds:

Glacial-lake floods in the Himalayan regions. Glacial lakes are held back by a barrier of rock
and ice. If the glaciers melt too fast — as is increasingly the case — or if there is too much
rain, the build-up of pressure can make the water break through. This is a glacial burst, and
it often has devastating consequences.
Urban flooding. Many cities flood in heavy rain because of an overburdened drainage
system, poorly planned construction encroaching on the waterways, and concrete or
asphalt surfaces that do not allow water to be absorbed by the earth.

Why the answer is a combination, never one cause: a flood needs both too much
water and nowhere for it to go. Heavy rain over hard rock in a steep, empty valley
makes a torrent, not a disaster. The same rain over a flat, silt-choked, densely
populated plain makes a flood — which is why the physical map, not the rainfall map
alone, tells you where floods will happen.

DON'T MISS OUT — Page 61

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b) Floods — the 2013 Uttarakhand disaster

DON'T MISS OUT

Q1 In 2013, Uttarakhand experienced a sudden glacial burst caused by continuous
heavy rain over several days. Many landslides followed. Areas around one of India's
important sacred sites, the Kedarnath temple, were completely destroyed. Several
villages were washed away in the floods, along with many roads and bridges.
Altogether about 6,000 people, many of them pilgrims, lost their lives.

This box is the whole chapter in one event. Read it as a chain, because that is how the
disaster actually unfolded:

STEP WHAT HAPPENED WHICH PART OF THE CHAPTER IT
BELONGS TO

1 Continuous heavy rain for several days in June 2013 Monsoon — and climate change making
extreme rain more likely

2 A glacial lake's barrier of rock and ice gave way — a Floods in the Himalayan regions (page 60)
glacial burst

3 Water, mud and boulders tore down the valley; many Landslides (page 62)
landslides followed

4 Villages, roads and bridges washed away; the area Disasters damage infrastructure and disturb
around Kedarnath destroyed local economies

5 About 6,000 people died, many of them pilgrims Why understanding the climate matters — Big
Question 4

Why the death toll was so high: it was June — the height of the Char Dham
pilgrimage season, so the narrow valleys held tens of thousands of visitors who did
not know the terrain, and there was only one road out. That is what makes this a
disaster rather than a natural event: the flood was natural, but the number of people
standing in its path was not.

Did you know? The Kedarnath temple itself survived, protected by a huge boulder
that lodged just behind it and split the flow of debris around the building. Local
people call it the Bhīm Śhilā.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

LET'S EXPLORE — Page 62
d) Forest fires — reading Fig. 3.15

LET'S EXPLORE

Q1 Observe Fig. 3.15. Describe the effects they may have on people, plants, animals
and economic life.

What Fig. 3.15 shows — four photographs, each carrying a printed label in
the book:
Cyclone (top left) — big trees snapped and uprooted, their thick trunks
and torn branches heaped along the edge of a road with a green-and-
white painted kerb; blue plastic sheets lie under the heap and loose
leaves are strewn over the road.
Landslide (top right) — a steep, thickly green hillside down which a
broad tongue of red-brown earth and rock has slipped on to the road
below; thin streams of muddy water still run down the bare scar. Two
yellow excavators stand at the road edge, one of them tipped over on its
side, and a few men stand on the wet road looking on.
Forest Fire (bottom left) — a hill slope of tall pine trees with a line of
orange flame creeping along the ground beneath them and a low grey
haze of smoke drifting between the trunks; white houses with red roofs
and balconies stand close by on either side.
Flood (bottom right) — a wide, sunlit sheet of water spread over what
was dry land; a tin-roofed house stands in it with water up to its walls, a
palm and a few bushes rise above the surface, dense green forest lines
the far edge, and the sky is blue with white cloud.

Fig. 3.15 (page 61) — four photographs of natural disasters; described here, see the
textbook for the photographs themselves.

Fig. 3.15 shows four disasters in four photographs — a cyclone (great trees uprooted and
lying across a city road), a landslide (a hillside collapsed on to a highway, with earth-movers
clearing it), a forest fire (a line of flame running along a wooded slope right behind houses) and
a flood (a house standing in water up to its roof, with only tree-tops showing).

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CYCLONE LANDSLIDE FOREST FIRE FLOOD

People Loss of life; houses People buried or cut Local communities Homes and
unroofed; power off; villages isolated displaced; smoke spoils belongings lost;
and phone lines when the only road is air quality and causes families in relief
down for days blocked breathing illness camps; contaminated
water and disease

Plants Trees uprooted, Forest and terraced Large areas of forest Crops rot under
standing crops fields swept away destroyed; seeds and water; soil is either
flattened by wind with the soil undergrowth burnt eroded or buried in
sand

Animals Cattle killed; nests Habitats buried; Wildlife killed or driven Livestock drowned;
and habitats streams blocked and out; the ecosystem is ground-nesting
destroyed fish killed degraded animals lose their
homes

Economic Fishing stops; Roads, bridges and Timber, honey, fodder Harvest lost; markets
life ports, roads and tourism cut off; repair and tourism lost; the and factories shut;
electricity costs are heavy consequences are both food prices rise
damaged; soil environmental and
erosion economic

Notice the pattern in the bottom row: each disaster hits the same three things — people's
lives, agriculture and infrastructure — which is exactly what the chapter says on page 58 in its
opening line on disasters.

Q2 In groups of four or five, identify in each of the above disasters the part of natural
causes and the part of human causes. Compare your conclusions.

Sample answer — the division your group should arrive at:

Page 28 of 49

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
DISASTER NATURAL CAUSES HUMAN CAUSES

Am
l a se
.cowarm sea; high wind speeds ag the surge
Cyclone low-pressure system over a Global warming warming the seas; building on exposed coasts;

se m destruction of mangroves that once absorbed

g l a
aFlood Heavy monsoon rain; rivers Overburdened drainage; construction encroaching on
and lakes overflowing; glacial waterways; concrete and asphalt that stop absorption;

co m
. ag
lakes bursting deforestation upstream; glaciers melting faster because of

se m
climate change

Heavy rain, earthquakes, g l a
Landslide a
volcanic activity; naturally
Cutting down of forests; building infrastructure without
following approved methods; too many buildings blocking the
steep slopes natural flow of water
co m
em.
m l as
.co droughts, high winds;
Forest fire Dry climatic conditions, Human carelessness — an unattended cooking fire, a burning

a g
m
cigarette, stubble burning that spreads

l a se lightning

a g
m
The conclusion the comparison should lead to: the trigger is usually natural; the
a s
m.co
scale of the damage is usually human. Rain does not decide how many houses
agl
l a se
stand in the flood path, and lightning does not decide how dry and unguarded the
ag
forest was. This is why the chapter says the chances of landslides ‘have increased
due to human activities’ — the mountain has not changed; what we have built on it

co m
has.
m .
m as e
.co a g l
a s em Tip: when your group compares conclusions, look for the causes that appear in

ag l more than one column. Deforestation and climate change turn up in almost every
m
row — that tells you where prevention should start.

a se
. com a g l
m
ase
Q3 agl
Discuss in the same groups series of preventive measures that could help avoid the
above disasters.

co m
m .
m a se

o l
g different people must act at
.c answer — sort your measures into three levels, because
a
m
Sample

a se each.
agl c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

DISASTER WHAT GOVERNMENT CAN WHAT THE WHAT YOU CAN DO
DO COMMUNITY CAN DO

Cyclone Fund IMD tracking and early- Practise evacuation drills; Learn the warning
warning systems; build cyclone agree on a shelter and a signals; help elderly
shelters; keep NDRF battalions route; store water, dry food neighbours move;
ready; protect mangrove belts and torches never go to the shore
to watch a storm

Flood Desilt and widen drains; ban Keep drains and canals Never throw plastic into
construction on waterways; build clear of plastic; restore a drain; keep important
embankments; monitor glacial lakes village ponds and tanks; papers in a waterproof
harvest rainwater bag before the
monsoon

Landslide Enforce approved construction Refuse illegal construction; Do not dislodge stones
methods; regulate hill roads and report new cracks in slopes on slopes; watch for
tunnelling; plant deep-rooted trees or houses; keep the natural tilting trees and muddy
on slopes; build retaining walls and water channels open spring water — early
proper drainage warnings of a slip

Forest fire Cut fire lines before the dry season; Village fire-watch groups; Put out every picnic fire
staff watch-towers; use satellite fire avoid burning stubble in completely; never leave
alerts; train and equip forest staff windy, dry weather glass or a cigarette in a
forest; report smoke at
once

And one measure that helps against all four: the chapter's own answer — mitigation and
adaptation. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions, planting trees, using renewable energy and
living sustainably reduce the extremes; building resilience in communities reduces the harm
when the extremes still come.

In-text Questions — Page 64
Climate Change

Q1 Why does the burning of fossil fuels affect the climate?

Because it releases greenhouse gases far faster than nature ever did, and those gases trap the
Sun's heat.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

some escapes

layer of greenhouse gases (CO₂ and others)

sunlight in heat rises
…but is trapped and sent back

Earth's surface

The greenhouse effect. It is natural and necessary; the problem is that we have thickened the blanket
in a few centuries.

1. In the Earth's natural carbon cycle, carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases are released
gradually into the atmosphere and trap heat from the Sun.
2. This natural ‘greenhouse effect’ warms the Earth enough to support life. Without it our
planet would be frozen.
3. But human activities like industry, transportation and agriculture have released
enormous amounts of these greenhouse gases in just a few centuries — chiefly by
burning coal, petroleum oil and natural gas.
4. This sudden increase traps extra heat, causing rapid global warming.
5. Global warming disrupts the climate patterns that plants, animals and human societies
have adapted to over thousands of years.

Why fossil fuels in particular: coal, oil and gas are carbon that plants and animals
took out of the air millions of years ago and that then lay locked under soil, rock
and sea. Burning them puts all of that ancient carbon back into the air in a couple of
centuries. It is not that the carbon is new — it is that the speed is, and living things
cannot adapt at that speed.

Check it yourself: the chapter's Indian example — early in 2025 the country's
average temperature was 1 to 3°C above normal, so the winter was much shorter
and milder than usual, hurting both agricultural production and many small-scale
industries.

Before we move on … — Pages 64–65

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The chapter in seven points

BEFORE WE MOVE ON …

Q1 India's diverse climate is shaped by its geography, including mountains, deserts,
and plateaus.

What this recap means, expanded. Geography is not scenery — it is the machinery of climate.

GEOGRAPHY WHAT IT DOES TO THE RESULT
CLIMATE

Mountains Great altitude; and they protect the Alpine climate above, temperate hill stations
(Himalayas, subcontinent from the winds of the below, and a north India far warmer than its
Karakoram) cold deserts of Central Asia latitude alone would allow

Mountains (Western Act as a natural barrier to the Tropical wet on the western slopes; much less
Ghats) southwest monsoon rain, with interruptions, on the Deccan
behind

Desert (Thar) Nearly flat topography with nothing to Arid climate — extremely hot days, cool
protect it from hot, dry winds nights, very little rain

Plateau (Deccan) Raised, inland, in the rain shadow of Semi-arid — hot summers, mild winters,
the Ghats moderate rain

Plains (northern) Flat, far from the sea, shut in by Subtropical — very hot summers, cold
mountains to the north winters; India's wheat belt

Coasts and islands Close to the sea, which moderates Tropical and tropical wet — small
temperature; low latitude temperature range, high humidity

Q2 Weather is short-term, seasons recur on a yearly basis, and climate reflects long-
term patterns over decades.

The three words in order of the time they cover:

Page 32 of 49

Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Weather → hours and days

Season → months, repeating every year

Climate → decades — at least three, the chapter says

WEATHER SEASON CLIMATE

Lasts An hour or a day A few months Thirty years or more

Changes Constantly In a fixed yearly cycle Very slowly — usually
stable

Example ‘It is raining in Kochi this ‘The monsoon runs from June to ‘Kerala has a tropical wet
afternoon’ September’ climate’

Remember also that India adds a fifth season to the world's usual four: spring, summer,
monsoon, autumn and winter — and traditionally counts six ṛitus.

Q3 Factors such as latitude, altitude, proximity to the sea, wind and topography
determine the climate.

The five factors, each with the rule and the chapter's own example:

Page 33 of 49

as e
Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
FACTOR THE RULE THE CHAPTER'S EXAMPLE

mLow latitude → the sun's rays are near- l a se
.co perpendicular and concentrated → warm. ag cooler
Latitude Kanniyakumari and the Nicobars are warm all

se m year; Srinagar is much

g l a
a
High latitude → oblique rays spread over a
larger area and crossing more atmosphere →
cold

com
Altitude
e m . ag
as
Higher up, air pressure and density fall and Ooty 10–25°C against Coimbatore 25–38°C, at

g l
you are farther from the heated surface → the same latitude
cooler
a
Proximity to The sea acts as a moderator; inland places
co m
Mumbai's range about 14°C; Nagpur's reaches

em.
the sea have more extreme summers and winters 34°C

m l as
Winds
m .co Winds move masses of warm or cold air, and
a g
Hot dry winds from Arabia and Afghanistan

l a se carry humidity that may become rain cause heat waves in Punjab, Haryana,

a g Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh; cold winds
across the Himalayas bring cold waves to the

a s
com agl
foothills

m .
ase
Topography Land shape blocks winds, or forces them to The Himalayas and Karakoram shield India

agl
rise and rain from Central Asian cold; the flat Thar has no
such protection; the Western Ghats shape the

m
southwest monsoon

. co
e m
m l as
.co g
Tip: a memory hook — LAPWT: Latitude, Altitude, Proximity, Wind, Topography. And

em a
s
remember the sixth idea that goes with them: a microclimate, a climate of its own
a
l in a small area.
ag
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl
Q4 Monsoons are vital for agriculture, influencing crop cycles and livelihoods.

m

. co
m
Why the monsoon is the pivot of Indian agriculture: most of India's rain arrives in a few

as e
comit ends. l
months, so the entire farming calendar is built around when it starts, how much it gives, and
. a g
sem
when

a
agl During the monsoon months the rivers fill up, the soil is soaked with water, crops grow
c
and life thrives.
m .
m a s e
co agl
The southwest monsoon reaches the southern tip in early June and covers the subcontinent

m .
e
by mid-July — which is when sowing moves north across the country.

g l as
The winter or northeast monsoon brings rain to parts of east and south India, so a second
a
crop is possible there.

co m
m .
m as e
.co


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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A ‘monsoon failure’ — poor rainfall during the monsoon season — means agriculture
suffers, people (generally women) must walk long distances for water, agricultural labourers
migrate to cities, and food becomes costlier, fuelling inflation.

Why the timing matters as much as the amount: a seed sown just before the rain
germinates; the same seed sown three weeks early dies of heat, and sown three
weeks late misses the water it needs to fill the grain. That is exactly why generations
of Indians watched fishes, crows and the amaltās blossom for signs — and why the
IMD's forecast is front-page news every May.

Q5 Climate is connected with cultural traditions, festivals, agriculture and economic
activity.

Follow the connection outwards, one ring at a time:

1. Climate fixes the crop. Wheat in the subtropical northern plains; rice and spices on the
tropical wet western coast.
2. The crop fixes the calendar. Sowing with the first rain, harvest at its end.
3. The calendar becomes the festival. Fig. 3.11 shows eleven — Bihu, Chhath Puja, Makar
Sakranti, Baisakhi, Pongal, the Awe Winter Festival, Hemis, Losoong, Gudi Padwa, Lohri
and Onam — besides Vasanta Pañchamī and Śharad Pūrṇima named earlier.
4. And the festival becomes art. The monsoon has inspired rāgas in both Carnatic and
Hindustani classical music — Meghamalhār, amruthavarshini.
5. Meanwhile the same climate drives the economy. Industrial activity depends on
predictable weather and the availability of water, and a monsoon failure raises prices for
everyone.

Even daily life follows it: “the crops we grow, the food we eat, the clothes we wear… change with
the season.”

Q6 Understanding the climate helps prepare for natural disasters like floods and
cyclones.

Understanding the climate converts a disaster from something that happens to people into
something people can see coming.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

KNOWING THIS… …LETS US DO THIS

Cyclones form over low-pressure areas at sea The IMD tracks formation, evolution and place of landing; the
and strike the eastern coast every year NDRF, stationed at 12 locations, evacuates in time

Floods come with the monsoon, in the great river Warning systems, embankments, clear drains, no building on
plains and on heavy-rain coasts waterways

Landslides follow heavy rain on cut and Approved construction methods, slope planting, restricting
deforested slopes building

Forest fires follow dry, windy, drought Fire lines, watch-towers and public warning before the dry
conditions season

The chapter adds the larger point: understanding the relationship between the causes of
climate change and disasters also supports the need for more environment-friendly practices
and for building resilience and adaptation in communities.

Q7 Climate change leads to extremes of weather or temperature and can have severe
consequences on the natural and human worlds.

The word to hold on to is ‘extremes’. Climate change is not simply ‘everything gets a little
warmer’; it is that the swings get wider and the patterns become unreliable.

EXTREME EFFECT ON THE EFFECT ON THE HUMAN WORLD
NATURAL WORLD

Hotter, shorter Flowering and migration In early 2025 India's average temperature was 1–3°C
winters timings thrown off above normal, hurting agricultural production and small-
scale industries

Fiercer rain and Soil erosion; rivers Failed crops, urban flooding, water scarcity
longer dry spells alternately in flood and
dry

Faster glacier melt Glacial lakes grow and Devastating floods, as at Kedarnath in 2013
burst

Warmer seas Reefs and fisheries Stronger cyclones on the eastern coast
damaged

And the response: governments worldwide, including India's, promote mitigation — cutting
greenhouse gas emissions, planting trees, boosting renewable energy, improving energy
efficiency, promoting sustainable lifestyles. The chapter ends by naming the real difficulty: these

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

measures often clash with a desire for economic growth and increased consumption.

Why that last line is the honest one: nobody is against clean air. The hard part is
that the same coal that pollutes also lights homes and runs factories, and the same
consumption that warms the planet also lifts people out of poverty. Solving climate
change is therefore not only a scientific problem but a question of choices — which
is exactly why it appears in a Social Science book and not only in a Science one.

Questions and activities — Pages 65–66
End-of-chapter exercise

Q1 Match the climatic factors with their effects: Column A — (1) Latitude, (2) Altitude,
(3) Proximity to the ocean, (4) Monsoon winds. Column B — (a) Brings wet air to
India during summer, (b) Creates different climates in the north and south, (c)
Keeps higher places cooler, (d) Moderates the temperature.

COLUMN A ANSWER COLUMN B WHY

(1) Latitude (b) Creates different Latitude fixes the angle of the sun's rays — so
climates in the north southern Kanniyakumari is hot all year while
and south northern Srinagar is cool

(2) Altitude (c) Keeps higher places Air pressure and density fall with height, and
cooler you are farther from the heated ground —
Ooty against Coimbatore

(3) Proximity to (d) Moderates the The sea acts as a moderator — Mumbai's
the ocean temperature range is about 14°C, Nagpur's 34°C

(4) Monsoon (a) Brings wet air to India The southwest monsoon draws moist air off
winds during summer the ocean towards the hot land, and it falls as
rain

1–b 2–c 3–d 4–a

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 Answer the following questions: a) What is the difference between weather and
climate?

Weather is what we experience every hour or day — it might be raining, or there could be
bright sunshine, a lot of wind. The weather keeps changing.
Climate is the pattern of weather an area or region experiences over a long period of time —
several decades at least. This pattern varies from region to region, and it usually remains stable.

WEATHER CLIMATE

Period Hours or days Three decades or more

Stability Changes constantly Usually stable over long periods

What it Today's rain, sun, wind The pattern of temperature, precipitation and wind
describes conditions in a region

Example ‘It is very windy in Jaipur ‘Jaipur has a semi-arid to arid climate’
today’

Tip: examiners look for the words ‘day to day’ and ‘over decades’. Include both and
the answer is complete.

Q3 b) Why do places near the ocean have milder temperatures than places far away
from it?

Because the sea acts as a moderator for the temperature. Land heats up quickly and loses heat
rapidly; the sea absorbs heat slowly and loses it slowly.

SEASON WHAT THE SEA DOES EFFECT ON THE COAST

Summer The sea absorbs heat slowly, so it stays cooler Sea air cools the coastal region — summers are
than the land not too hot

Winter The sea loses heat slowly, so it stays warmer Sea air warms the coastal region — winters are
than the land not too cold

As you move inland from the coast the temperatures get more extreme — summer
temperatures higher and winter temperatures lower. The chapter's own pair proves it:

Page 38 of 49

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
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co m
em.
Mumbai (near the sea): summer ≈ 32°C, winter ≈ 18°C
m l as
.co
Range = 32 − 18 = 14°C
m a g
l a se
g
aNagpur (away from the coast): summer up to 44°C, winter ≈ 10°C

co m
. ag
Range = 44 − 10 = 34°C
e m
g l as
Same latitude, but Nagpur's range is 20°C wider. a

co m
se m.
o m l a
Why water behaves this way: water needs far more heat than soil or rock to warm
c same amount, and the sea keeps mixing its warm surface g down into the
up by .the a
m
se depths. So a coast is never dealing with just the air — it is dealing with a vast,
acold
agl slow store of heat that flattens out both extremes.
m a s
em
.co agl
a s
agl
Q4 c) What role do monsoon winds play in affecting India's climate?

. com
m They act in two
The monsoon winds are what give India its fifth season and most of its ewater.
s
m
co phases. gl a
. a
em
opposite

a s
a gl SUMMER / SOUTHWEST MONSOON WINTER / NORTHEAST
MONSOON
se m
comcooler ocean = g l a
. a
em
Pressure Hot Asian landmass = low pressure; Cold land = high pressure; warmer ocean =

a s
gl
high pressure relatively low pressure

Wind
a
From ocean to land From land to ocean

com
direction

Dry air — e
.
mpart of it crosses the Bay of
a s
com agl
What it Moisture, which condenses over the warmer land but

m .
carries Bengal and picks up moisture

ase Result
a g l Heavy monsoon rain; reaches the southern tip in Cold, dry weather in south India, but

.c
m
early June, covers the subcontinent by mid-July rainfall for parts of east and south India

m a s e
Their effects on India's climate:
em . co agl
g l as
They give India a distinct rainy season that most of the world does not have.
a
They create the wet and dry periods that define the tropical climate of eastern India and the

m
southern peninsula.

. co
e m
m l as
.co a g
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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Working with topography, they divide the country: the western slopes of the Western Ghats
get heavy rain (tropical wet), while the Deccan Plateau behind gets less and with
interruptions (semi-arid).
They control the whole farming year — “the rivers fill up, the soil is soaked with water, crops
grow and life thrives.”

Q5 d) Why is Chennai warm or hot throughout the year, while Leh is cold?

Two of the five factors differ sharply between them — latitude and altitude — and both push in
the same direction.

FACTOR CHENNAI LEH

Latitude Low — in the southern peninsula, close to the High — far north, so the rays are oblique,
Equator, so the sun's rays fall nearly spread over a larger area and weakened by a
perpendicular and their energy is concentrated longer path through the atmosphere

Altitude On the coastal plain, near sea level High in the Himalayas — thin, less dense air
and far from the heated surface, so much
colder

Proximity to On the Bay of Bengal, so the sea moderates the Deep inland with no moderating sea at all, so
the sea temperature — no bitter winter winters are severe

Climate type Tropical — warm or hot almost all year, Alpine — cold, snowy winters and cool
humid, with rain from the northeast summers
monsoon

Chennai — low latitude + near sea level + beside the sea → warm all year

Leh — high latitude + very high altitude + far inland → cold

Did you know? Leh is also very dry. It lies beyond the Himalayas, which block the
monsoon, so it is a cold desert — as arid as the Thar, but freezing instead of
scorching.

Page 40 of 49

Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q6 Look at a map of India given at the end of this book. Identify the climate for these
cities — Leh, Chennai, Delhi, Panaji and Jaipur. Is the place near the sea, in the
mountains, or in the desert? How do these factors affect the climate there?

K2
N
35° N
LADAKH
AFGHANISTAN CHINA
A SS
AFGHANISTAN
A
AA YY
M AA LL
HH II M
Sutl
ej
30° N
PAKISTAN
NEPAL
Kanchenjunga
IndI

na
dn

mu BHUTAN
utra
PLAINS
su
us

LS
SL Ya INS map
NORTHERN
ERN PLA h
IL
LIH
THAR DESERT ra
NORTH Garo Hills
Garo Hills B
H

Jaintia Hills
Jaintia Hills
LI
ILL
AL

Cha Gaannga
A

G
AV
VA

25° N mba
l
AR
RA

Mt Abu
Rann of Kachchh VINDHYA RANGE BANGLADESH Khasi Hills
Khasi Hills
Tropic of Cancer (23½° N) CHOTA NAGPUR
N rmaaddaa
Naarm SATPURA RANGE
PLATEAU
Ma Mah MYANMAR
Tapi ha ana
Sundarbans
S
ST
AT AH
na
di di
20° N DECCAN PLATEAU
DECCAN PLATEAU
GH

ARABIAN SEA
G

God
NR N

ava
STAHG NRET
ATS

ER

ri
l Plain
nialP latsa

E

BAY OF BENGAL
ST
TSA
RN GH

EA

Krishna
E

inia n
oasta

la lP
lP l
ta
a
oC nretse

WESTE

ts

15° N
as
ern C

ao
Co
SEW

C

ANDAMAN ISLANDS
nr n
er
West

et
st sa
Ea
W

E

Kave
ri

10° N Anai Mudi
LAKSHADWEEP
NICOBAR ISLANDS
SRI LANKA
INDIAN OCEAN

70° E 75° E 80° E 85° E 90° E 95° E

LEGEND Height above sea level (metres)

0 – 150 150 – 300 300 – 600 600 – 1500 1500 – 3000 3000 – 5000 Above 5000

River (arrow = direction of flow) International boundary Mountain peak

The physical map of India given at the end of the book — redrawn here with its legend
and its latitude and longitude lines.

Find each city on the physical map at the end of your book, note what kind of land it stands on,
then read off the climate from the list on page 48.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CITY WHERE IT IS CLIMATE HOW THE FACTORS WORK THERE

Leh High in the Alpine — a Very high altitude and high latitude make it cold;
Himalayas (Ladakh), cold desert the mountains cut off the monsoon, so it is also
far inland, beyond the extremely dry, with cool summers and freezing,
main ranges snowy winters

Chennai On the east coast, Tropical Low latitude gives strong sun all year; the sea
beside the Bay of keeps the range small and the air humid; the
Bengal northeast monsoon brings its main rain in Oct–
Dec

Delhi In the northern plains, Subtropical No sea to moderate it, so summers are very hot
far from the sea and winters cold; hot dry winds from the west
bring heat waves, and cold winds from the north
bring cold waves; rain comes with the southwest
monsoon

Panaji On the western Tropical wet The sea keeps temperatures even all year; the
coastal strip, with the Ghats force the southwest monsoon to rise, so
Western Ghats just rainfall is heavy — good for rice and spices
behind

Jaipur In Rajasthan, on the Arid to semi- Hot, dry winds off the desert and a flat topography
edge of the Thar arid with no barrier; far from the sea, so days are
Desert, inland extremely hot and nights cool, and rainfall is very
low

Why the same country holds all five: lay the cities on the map and you have
travelled through every factor in the chapter — 3,000 km of latitude from Chennai to
Leh, 3,500 m of altitude, coast to deep interior, and desert to rain-drenched Ghats.
Diversity of climate is really diversity of geography, seen from the sky.

Q7 Draw the monsoon cycle in summers and winters on a map of India. Label where
the winds blow in summer and winter. Show the direction of winds during the
monsoon.

How to draw it. Make two outline maps of India side by side, as Fig. 3.9 does — one titled A.
Summer, one titled B. Winter. Use one colour for winds coming in from the sea and another for
winds going out to the sea.

Page 42 of 49

Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

ON THE SUMMER MAP ON THE WINTER MAP

Mark LOW pressure over north-west India / the Asian Mark HIGH pressure over the landmass
landmass

Mark HIGH pressure over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal Mark relatively LOW pressure over the warmer
ocean

Draw arrows from the sea towards the land: one branch from Draw arrows from the land out to the sea, running
the Arabian Sea striking the Western Ghats, another from the from the north-east towards the south-west
Bay of Bengal curving up into the North-East and then north-
west along the Himalayas

Label them southwest monsoon; write ‘moist winds — heavy Label them northeast monsoon; write ‘dry winds’,
rain’ and show one arrow crossing the Bay of Bengal
picking up moisture and giving rain to the
Coromandel coast

Add the advance dates: south tip early June → whole country Add ‘October–December, rain for parts of east
by mid-July and south India’

A. SUMMER B. WINTER

INDIA INDIA

Arabian Sea dry winds out to sea
Bay of Bengal
LOW pressure over land HIGH pressure over land

A rough guide to the two maps you must draw. Your own outline should be traced from the map at
the end of your book, and both branches of the summer monsoon should be shown.

Page 43 of 49

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Tip: the names describe where the wind comes from, not where it goes. ‘Southwest

m l a se
monsoon’ blows from the south-west towards India; ‘northeast monsoon’ blows from
o
.c out over the sea. Getting the arrowheads the wrong
a g way round is the
m
the north-east

l a se
g
commonest mistake in this question.
a
o m
e m . c ag
s
Make a colourful poster showing festivals in India linked to farming and weather
a or drawings of these festivals.
Q8

agl
(e.g., Baisakhi, Onam). Add pictures

c o m
.
m a s emplaced at its own
How to build the poster. Do not scatter pictures at random — give the poster a shape that
The best layout is a circle for the year, with each lfestival
o
.cthe
makes an argument.
a gcalendar.
month,m
sea good poster must contain, for each festival: its name, the state or region, the
so reader sees at a glance that festivals follow the farming

g l a
a month/season, and one line on what farming event it marks — plus a picture or drawing.
What

m a s
.co agl
Sample answer — eleven festivals, all from the chapter's Fig. 3.11, arranged around the year:

se m
g l a
a

com
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

FESTIVAL WHERE WHEN WHAT IT CELEBRATES

Lohri Punjab 13 January End of the coldest days; the sugarcane and rabi
harvest; a bonfire of peanuts and popcorn

Makar All over India 14–15 January The Sun's northward turn — days start
Sakranti lengthening; kite flying

Pongal Tamil Nadu Mid-January The rice harvest; new rice boiled over in a clay
pot, and cattle honoured on Mattu Pongal

Losoong Sikkim December End of the harvest season, the Sikkimese new
year

Gudi Padwa Maharashtra March–April Spring and the new year; the rabi harvest is in

Baisakhi Punjab, Haryana 13–14 April The wheat harvest; bhangra and gidda in the
fields

Bihu (Rongali) Assam Mid-April Start of the agricultural year and the sowing
season

Hemis Ladakh June–July Held in the short warm season, when the high
passes are open

Onam Kerala August– The harvest at the close of the southwest
September monsoon; boat races and the Onasadya

Chhath Puja Bihar, eastern UP, October– Thanksgiving to the Sun after the kharif harvest;
Jharkhand November offerings standing in the river

Awe Winter Arunachal Pradesh Winter A community festival of the cold months, with
Festival dance and traditional dress

Tip: write one sentence at the bottom of the poster tying it together — for example,
“Every festival on this poster is really a date in the farming calendar: sowing, first
rain, or harvest.” That single line turns a decorated sheet into an answer.

Q9 Imagine you are a farmer in India. Write a short diary entry about how you would
prepare for the rainy season.

What a good diary entry needs: a date and a place, the first person (‘I’), specific tasks rather
than general hopes, one worry, and one sign from nature that the rain is coming — that last
touch connects your answer straight back to page 56.

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Sample answer:

28 May — Village Kondhwa, Maharashtra
The amaltās by the well came into flower ten days ago, and last evening the ants
were carrying their eggs up the bund in a long line. My grandfather always said that
means the rain is near. The radio says the monsoon has reached Kerala, so we have
perhaps two weeks.
Today I finished ploughing the upper field and let the sun bake the clods; tomorrow
I will level it so the water does not run off and take the soil with it. I have repaired
the bund on the eastern side where it broke last year, and cleared the small channel
that carries water from the road into the tank — it was choked with plastic and
thorn.
The soyabean seed is bought and kept dry in the loft, with neem leaves against
insects. I have not sown it yet, and I will not, whatever the neighbours do. Two years
ago the first shower came, half the village sowed, and then it did not rain again for
three weeks — everything died and the seed money was gone. This time I wait for
the rain to settle.
Still to do: mend the leaking roof over the cattle shed, buy a length of pipe for the
pump, and take the bullocks for their check-up. If the rain is good this year I will pay
back the co-operative loan and perhaps buy a second-hand sprayer.
May it come on time, and may it not come all at once.

Tip: the difference between a weak answer and a strong one here is detail. ‘I will
prepare my field’ says nothing; ‘I levelled the field so the water would not carry the
soil away’ shows you understood the chapter.

Q10 Identify a natural disaster (e.g., cyclone, flood, landslide, or forest fire) and write a
short essay that includes the causes and impacts. Suggest actions that individuals,
communities and the government can take to reduce the impact.

How to structure the essay — five short paragraphs: (1) name the disaster and one real
example, (2) causes, natural and human, (3) impacts on people, plants, animals and the
economy, (4) what individuals, the community and the government can each do, (5) a closing
line.
Sample answer — Floods
What it is. A flood occurs when water overflows into normally dry land. It happens when heavy
rainfall generates more run-off than the land can absorb, or when rivers and lakes accumulate
so much water that they overflow or their banks are breached. Floods occur frequently during
the monsoons, and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Assam are particularly

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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

vulnerable. In 2013 an unusual kind of flood struck Uttarakhand: days of continuous heavy rain
caused a glacial burst, landslides followed, the area around the Kedarnath temple was
destroyed, and about 6,000 people — many of them pilgrims — lost their lives.
Causes. The natural causes are heavy monsoon rain, rivers swollen with snow-melt, flat land
that drains slowly, and glacial lakes bursting through their barrier of rock and ice. The human
causes make the damage far worse: deforestation upstream, which lets rain rush off bare
slopes; construction encroaching on waterways and blocking the flow of water; overburdened
city drainage; concrete and asphalt surfaces that do not let water be absorbed by the earth; and
climate change, which is melting glaciers faster and making rainfall more extreme.
Impacts. People lose their homes and sometimes their lives; families live in relief camps and
drink contaminated water, so disease spreads. Standing crops rot and the harvest is lost, so
farmers and labourers lose a whole year's income and often migrate to the cities. Cattle drown.
Roads, bridges, schools and power lines are destroyed, and the money that should have built
new ones is spent rebuilding the old. Food becomes costlier for everyone, fuelling inflation —
the flood is felt in kitchens hundreds of kilometres away.
What can be done.

INDIVIDUALS COMMUNITIES GOVERNMENT

Never throw plastic into drains; Clean drains and canals before the Fund flood forecasting and early-warning
keep documents and valuables monsoon; revive village ponds and systems; desilt rivers and widen drains;
above flood level; learn the tanks that hold run-off; plant trees on build and maintain embankments; enforce
warning signals and the route to slopes and banks; refuse and report building rules and remove encroachments;
higher ground; help elderly illegal building on waterways; run monitor Himalayan glacial lakes; keep
neighbours move early rescue and first-aid training NDRF battalions equipped and ready;
provide quick relief and crop insurance

Conclusion. A flood begins as rain, which no one can stop. What turns rain into a disaster is a
blocked drain, a cut forest and a house built in a river's path — and every one of those is a
decision people made. That is why understanding the climate matters: it does not remove the
water, but it tells us where not to stand.

Chapter at a glance
Weather is what we feel from hour to hour or day to day; seasons recur every year;
climate is the pattern of weather a region has over a long period — at least several
decades. Traditionally India divides the year into six ṛitus — vasanta, grīṣhma, varṣhā,
śharad, hemanta and śhiśhir.
India has seven kinds of climate in one country: alpine (Himalayas), temperate (lower
Himalayas and hill areas), subtropical (northern plains), arid (Thar Desert), tropical wet

Page 47 of 49

Class 7 Social Science Chapter 3 Climates of India AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

(western coastal strip), semi-arid (Deccan Plateau) and tropical (eastern India and the
southern peninsula).
Five factors decide a region's climate — latitude (the angle of the sun's rays), altitude (air
thins and cools as you go up), proximity to the sea (the sea moderates temperature),
winds (they carry heat and moisture) and topography (mountains block or lift winds). A
microclimate is a small local climate of its own, such as an ‘urban heat island’.
The monsoon — from the Arabic mausim, ‘season’ — works because land heats and cools
faster than the ocean. In summer the hot Asian landmass makes a low-pressure area and
moist sea winds rush in: the southwest monsoon, arriving at India's southern tip in early
June and covering the country by mid-July. In winter the flow reverses: the dry northeast
monsoon, which still brings rain to parts of east and south India.
Climate shapes culture and economy — Bihu, Pongal, Onam, Baisakhi, Lohri, Chhath Puja
and other festivals follow the farming year, while a ‘monsoon failure’ means poor harvests,
long walks for water, migration to cities and inflation.
India's weather also brings disasters — cyclones (with a cloudless ‘eye’), floods and glacial
bursts, landslides and forest fires — many of them worsened by human action. Climate
change, driven since the 19th century mostly by fossil fuels and deforestation, is making
these extremes worse; the answers are mitigation, resilience and sustainable living.

Page 48 of 49

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