ESA - Eduspace EN - Weather and Climate

Weather

Foehn wind Interactive Meteosat Meteosat images

Climate

African climate El Niño Gulf Stream

Himalayan climate

Explore the world and its climate with JP Explorer Lake Chad


Satellite image of the Himalayan region taken by Envisat's MERIS instrument

Himalayan climate

The Himalayan region is an area of extreme variety in terms of weather, climate, and the resulting landscapes.

Envisat's satellite image on the left shows the distribution of different landscapes in the Himalayan region. The southern part is lush and predominantly wet, while northward the land becomes increasingly dry and bare.

There are two main reasons for the development of this south-north axis. The first of these relates to the Himalayas themselves. The high mountain range acts like a wall and obstructs the passage of the south-western Summer Monsoon. The second reason is the Summer Monsoon itself, which brings tropical storms and copious amounts of rain to the southern Himalayan region.

The case studies provided here deal with the climatic processes and the resulting weather situations and landscapes.

You will find useful information on weather and climate in general and the specific situations in the Himalayan region in the Background section.

This case study includes:

a background section

a worksheet introduction

exercises

You can access them by clicking on the links on the right.

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