What this lesson teaches
I can compare temperature and rainfall patterns across the tropical climate zones.
Syllabus 9173, Topic 2.1, 1. Tropical Climates. What are the similarities and differences in the temperature and rainfall patterns in the tropics?
Make a guess
Mumbai, on the coast below the Western Ghats, gets about 2,213 mm of rain a year. What share of it falls from June to September?
- About half, since storms come in every season.
- About a third, spread evenly through the year.
- About 95%, in the southwest monsoon.
Show the answer
About 95%, in the southwest monsoon.
Moist southwest monsoon winds from the Arabian Sea are forced up the Western Ghats behind Mumbai. The rest of the year is mostly dry.
A named place with a date or figure, linked to your point, turns a general answer into a developed one.
This lesson collects the 10 named examples from the lessons in this chapter, so you can revise them in one place. Each one is also a recall card below, so you can save the whole set and review it before an exam.
Hadley cells and the ITCZ: The Sahel's short wet season.
Summer and winter monsoons in Asia: Mumbai and the Western Ghats (IMD); Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India.
Tropical cyclones and rainfall: Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines, 2013.
ENSO and Pacific rainfall: El Nino and haze.
Causes of fluvial flooding: Thailand, 2011.
Flood impacts and vulnerability: Thailand, 2011.
Managing fluvial floods: Bangkok, 2011; Jakarta; Marina Barrage, Singapore.
To use a case, name the place or organisation, give its date or a figure, then say what it shows about the question. One developed case earns more than a list of names.
- The Sahel's short wet season
- In the Sahel, on the southern edge of the Sahara, most rain falls from about June to September, when the ITCZ moves north over West Africa. For the rest of the year sinking air and dry northeast winds bring a long dry season. A late or weak northward shift can mean drought.
- Mumbai and the Western Ghats (IMD)
- Mumbai, on the windward coast below the Western Ghats, gets about 2,213 mm of rain a year (1991-2020). About 95% falls from June to September, when the southwest monsoon blows in from the Arabian Sea. Places inland, in the rain shadow on the Deccan Plateau, are much drier.
- Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India
- Guinness World Records lists Mawsynram as the place with the highest average yearly rainfall, about 11,870 mm. Summer monsoon air from the Bay of Bengal is forced up the steep Khasi Hills, so relief rain falls on their windward slopes.
- Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines, 2013
- It was one of the strongest storms ever recorded at landfall. Its storm surge and winds killed over 6,000 people.
- El Nino and haze
- During the strong El Nino of 2015, drought in Indonesia let peat fires spread, causing severe haze across Southeast Asia, including Singapore.
- Thailand, 2011 (Causes of fluvial flooding)
- Heavy monsoon rain and tropical storms caused months of flooding in the Chao Phraya basin. Over 800 people died.
- Thailand, 2011 (Flood impacts and vulnerability)
- Floods swamped industrial estates near Bangkok, disrupting global supplies of car parts and computer hard drives.
- Bangkok, 2011
- Floodwater was diverted to protect central Bangkok, but outer districts stayed flooded for longer, raising questions of fairness.
- Jakarta
- Heavy groundwater pumping makes parts of north Jakarta sink by up to about 25 cm a year, worsening floods. Indonesia plans a sea wall and is moving its capital to Nusantara.
- Marina Barrage, Singapore
- Tidal gates and pumps keep out high tides and drain storm water from low-lying central areas.
Step by step
Name it
The place, event or organisation.
Prove it
A date, number or specific fact.
Link it
Say what it shows about the question.
Worked example: From a name to a developed point
Weak: "There are real examples, such as The Sahel's short wet season." Strong: "In the Sahel, on the southern edge of the Sahara, most rain falls from about June to September, when the ITCZ moves north over West Africa. For the rest of the year sinking air and dry northeast winds bring a long dry season. A late or weak northward shift can mean drought." The strong version gives the place and the evidence, so it can earn a development mark.
Watch out for this
Naming a famous example is enough to earn the mark.
Examiners credit a developed case: a place, a date or figure, and a clear link to the question.
Check your understanding
Which is the strongest way to use a named example in an answer?
- Describe the example in general terms, without a place or figure.
- List several example names, with no details.
- Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Show the answer
Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Yes. A located, evidenced and linked case is what earns development marks.