What is a monsoon and how is it formed?

The oceans on our planet were the place that has always been the source of our information both about the whole Earth, and about the weather phenomena with which it is characterized. The main part of the "studies" was carried out by sailors, since their lives depended largely on their knowledge of the seas and their weather characteristics.

Thus, the data accumulated by the seafarers provided the basis for the study of the trade winds. In addition, they also identified so-called "horse latitudes" where winds were often absent altogether. Nautical data also gave us to understand what a monsoon is.

There are places in the coastal regions where the movement of the air masses is characterized by a rare constancy. Monsoon - just a kind of this kind of winds. In many ways it is from them that the climate in the tropical latitudes depends. This is especially noticeable in the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean.

But how to understand what a monsoon is, if you do not know the specifics of their education? To understand this process, you need to understand that above the continent is much higher atmospheric pressure. As you may be aware from the most banal course of school physics, the wind is formed just because the air masses move from low pressure areas to latitudes with higher pressure.

But monsoons are formed somewhat differently. In summer, the same Hindustan and adjacent areas of the rest of the Eurasian continent heat up strongly, which ensures a decrease in pressure. But over the ocean it is noticeably higher.

This is where the answer lies to the question of what a monsoon is. It is a powerful tropical wind blowing from the ocean to the land. Moreover, it is extremely moist, since it is saturated with water evaporated from the surface. So over land emerged in an incredible natural "laboratory" clouds burst into abundant and warm rains.

It is the monsoon that gives coastal areas a high fertility, but the inhabitants of these lands "are obliged" to crush all floods, when streams of water wash entire cities into the sea.

Everything changes in the winter, when the so-called "land" monsoons come from the dry highland areas of the continent. Unlike their "colleagues", they were not absorbed by the moisture of the ocean.

Therefore, these winds cause severe droughts, which often continue until the next rainy period. Thus, the season of monsoons (wet) does not last very long, but the amount of precipitation that has fallen during this time is such that it allows vegetation to live until next year.

It must be said that in the zones with such a peculiar climate, almost a quarter of the world's population lives. In the Northern Hemisphere, they live in the rain from June, and the south last in December.

We do not accidentally talk about a large amount of precipitation. So, the place of Cherrapunji in India is "the most-most" in terms of the amount of water falling from the sky. For every day, when the monsoon dominates over this territory, the photo of which is in the article, there falls a whole meter of precipitation!

Thus, these winds play a fundamental role in the development of the climate of the whole region. Without them, the life of millions of people would be impossible.

Now you know exactly what a monsoon is.