Consider the following statements:
- 1.In the tropical zone, the western sections of the oceans are warmer than the eastern sections owing to the influence of trade winds.
- 2.In the temperate zone, westerlies make the eastern sections of oceans warmer than the western sections.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Both statements are correct: winds push warm surface water to the western side of tropical oceans, while in the temperate zone the westerlies carry warm water to the eastern side, that is, to the west coasts of continents.
- ✓ 1. In the tropics the easterly trade winds push warm water west and hold it there, so the western side of an ocean is warmer than the east. This matches warm currents along the east coasts of continents in tropical latitudes and cool waters off their west coasts.
- ✓ 2. Ocean circulation follows the planet's wind pattern, and in the middle latitudes the surface winds are the westerlies, which carry warm water eastwards, so the eastern side of the ocean is the warm side. NCERT notes that west coasts of continents in middle and higher latitudes are bordered by warm waters, as in north-western Europe.
Remember · Tropics: trade winds pile warm water in the west of the ocean. Temperate zone: westerlies carry warm water to the east, so west coasts of continents there are mild.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 13 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 13 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 13 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 9 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NASA Science: El Nino ↗ “this warm water is pushed west and held there by easterly trade winds.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 13 “West coasts of the continents in the middle and higher latitudes are bordered by warm waters which cause a distinct marine climate.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 13 “Warm currents flow parallel to the east coasts of the continents in tropical and subtropical latitudes.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 13 “Major ocean currents are greatly influenced by the stresses exerted by the prevailing winds and coriolis force. The oceanic circulation pattern roughly corresponds to the earth's atmospheric circulation pattern.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 9 “At the surface these winds are called westerlies and the cell is known as the Ferrel cell.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·