Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

What are the major factors that control the climate?

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
429.3k+ views
Hint: The climate of any particular place is influenced by a number of interacting factors. There are six major controls of the climate of an area. These factors are latitude, elevation, nearby water, ocean currents, topography, vegetation, and prevailing winds. LOWERN is an alternative short form for six factors that affect climate.

Complete answer: We will study in detail about LOWERN.
Latitude - It depends on how close or how far it's to the equator. As Earth is a sphere so the amount of solar energy received varies according to latitude. As an effect of that air temperature generally decreases from the equator towards the poles.
Ocean currents - Ocean currents have two different temperatures which varies accordingly. The warm currents heats up the air above it, which inturn warms the coast. Similarly, cold currents cool the air above it, which cools the coast. This helps keep the coast at a uniform temperature.
Wind and air masses - Heated ground causes air to rise which ends up in lower atmospheric pressure. When air cools it descends to the bottom leading to high atmospheric pressure. This cycle repeats, thus creating wind.
Elevation - The upper you are, the colder and drier it'll be. When air rises it expands thanks to low atmospheric pressure which causes it to chill.
Relief - The differences within the elevation inland. Whenever air is forced to rise over a land the temperature decreases and eventually condensation increases. When this condensation starts, water droplets get bigger and heavier and are forced to fall. Once the atmosphere goes over the mountain the temperature and evaporation increases but condensation decreases, leading to a halt in precipitation and rain shadows.
Nearness to water - The water gives a moderating effect as because water heats up and cools down slower than land does. On hotter days, the water cools up the land, whereas on colder days, the land is heated up by the water. These areas also experience more precipitation.

Note: The foremost dominating factor of the Indian climate is that the ‘monsoon winds’ as a results of which it's often called the monsoon climate. The entire reversal of the monsoon winds brings a few sudden changes within the seasons—the harsh summer season suddenly giving thanks to eagerly awaited monsoon or season.