The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Monsoon climate
The word 'monsoon' itself describes a climate in which the wind direction reverses with the seasons. Equatorial and Mediterranean climates are defined by other features, so 'all of the above' is also wrong.
- ✗ (a) Equatorial climate is defined by heat and rain throughout the year. It lies in the belt of weak equatorial winds and has no seasonal wind reversal.
- ✗ (b) Mediterranean climate occurs on the western sides of continents between about 30° and 40° latitude. It is known for dry summers and wet winters. This pattern comes from the seasonal shifting of pressure and wind belts, not from a reversal of the wind system as in monsoons.
- ✓ (c) Monsoon means the climate associated with a seasonal reversal in the direction of winds. In summer the monsoon winds blow from sea to land, and in winter from land to sea. The Arabs named this seasonal reversal 'monsoon', from the Arabic word 'mausim', meaning season.
- ✗ (d) Equatorial and Mediterranean climates do not have a seasonal reversal of winds, so the combined option cannot hold.
Remember · Monsoon = seasonal reversal of wind direction (Arabic 'mausim' = season). Trade winds and westerlies are permanent winds, not seasonal ones.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 4 “Monsoon connotes the climate associated with seasonal reversal in the direction of winds.”
- NCERT Class 9 · Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 3 “The Arabs, who had also come to India as traders, named this seasonal reversal of the wind system 'monsoon', derived from the Arabic word mausim, which literally means season.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
