Research Question Answers

http://www.gymnasium-spaichingen.de/bili/india/bilder/change27.gif

1.) Monsoons, or the most severe form of monsoons, usually occur in southern Asia. This project is about India, so I will be focusing more on India. But monsoons happen in many different places - many parts of southern and coastal Asia and they also happen in eastern coastal Africa. Those are the places where monsoons are most intense. The above image is a diagram of where monsoons occur in the world - as you can see, many different countries and continents.


http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2008/08/28/india--flood-cp-584-5409739.jpg


2.) During a monsoon, which is a seasonal change in temperature and precipitation, there can be severe wind, a drastic temperature change and of course, it rains. The rain can cause floods and the wind can cause other severe damage to houses and plant life. The above image is of an Indian family during the monsoon season - wading through the flooded streets.

3.) Monsoons occur because of the seasonal change of wind and temperature. Both of these factors can contribute to the rain that occurs due to the monsoon. [WORK ON THIS ANSWER]

4.) People are affected by monsoons in many, many ways, either positive ways or negative ways. People in India do look forward to monsoons - they put an end to the scorching heat of the season before. The rain obviously does wonders for the crops, which are vital to Indian communities. It's easier to find drinking water. Even though the monsoons seem like they make life in India easier and better, they do have a few negative effects on Indian communities. They may cause flooding in the streets. People may be wading through water up to their waist, or even higher. House flooding is also a major problem that comes with monsoons. Wind is also a side-effect of monsoons, and the damage may be seen in trees, plants, crops - even windows and buildings. Even with all of these negative effects, the monsoons are still looked forward to by the people of India.

5.) People in India try to protect themselves from the negative effects of monsoons by building their houses on "stilts", and building them close to other buildings and houses. The stilts are usually extremely tall, in order to protect the people from flooding. The stilts, to me, look wobbly and unsafe, but they're built for a good cause. I saw photos of these houses on stilts on:

http://www.pbase.com/neuenhofer/arunachal_pradesh_tribal_diversity_and_living_traditions

6.) Monsoons benefit Indian communities, as I said before, by providing them more easily accessible drinking water. They also provide water to help crops, and this is a luxury to Indian farms because during most of the year, India is a dry, arid place where clean water is scarce. During other parts of the year, people may have to travel (by foot) miles to retrieve clean water for their families. Some people die of heat stroke because of the dry, arid conditions.

7.) Unfortunately, the seasonal monsoons of India may put Indian communities in danger in more ways than they benefit them. The dirty flood water may contaminate clean drinking water with waterborne bacteria, even though they can provide drinking water. The flooding is an obvious danger, which can rise higher than people's waists. The wind that comes from monsoons may cause serious danger to houses and buildings - even trees and other plants can be damaged severely by monsoon winds.

8.) They are not quite sure, but some researchers have blamed global warming for the slight change in timing of the seasonal monsoons. I found information on this topic at www.ipsnews.net.
[WORK ON THIS TOPIC]

9.) People try to make it rain unnaturally (or create man-made rain) by a method called "cloud-seeding". How does cloud seeding work? Cloud-seeders shoot either dry ice or silver iodide into the clouds, hoping that it will help produce rain.

10.) There are many different holidays, festivals and other types of celebrations that the people of India have come up with to celebrate the good that monsoons do for their usually dry and arid weather. Adiperukku, a traditional Indian celebration of the monsoon rain, is celebrated in South India by many people. It celebrates the new hope and life-giving water that the monsoon season brings to South India. In some parts of India, a festival called Teej is celebrated, and its purpose is to celebrate the onset of the monsoon season. Those are just two of the many festivals that Indians have to celebrate the monsoons.