UPSC CSE Climate — practice questions
110 free MCQs with worked solutions. Tap any question for the answer + explanation, or practice them all in the app.
Practice UPSC CSE Climate in the app →99 per cent of the atmosphere's mass lies within what height of the earth's surface?Oxygen becomes almost negligible at what height above the surface?Carbon dioxide and water vapour are found only up to what height?Which gas is transparent to incoming solar radiation but opaque to outgoing terrestrial radiation?The rise in carbon dioxide in recent decades is mainly due to:Ozone is found between which heights above the earth?Ozone acts as a filter absorbing which rays from the sun?In the warm wet tropics, water vapour may make up what share of air by volume?Water vapour keeps the earth neither too cold nor too hot, acting like a:Dust and salt particles act as which kind of nuclei for cloud formation?Dust particles are most concentrated in which regions?Based on temperature, the atmosphere is divided into how many layers?The average height of the troposphere is:The troposphere is thickest at the equator, reaching about:In the troposphere, temperature falls by 1 degree C for every:The zone separating the troposphere from the stratosphere is the:The air temperature at the tropopause over the equator is about:The stratosphere extends up to a height of about:Which atmospheric layer contains the ozone layer?The mesosphere extends up to a height of about:Radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back by the:The ionosphere lies between which heights?Incoming solar radiation received by the earth is termed:On average the earth receives how many calories per sq cm per minute at the top of the atmosphere?The earth is farthest from the sun, at 152 million km, on which date?The earth's position nearest to the sun is called:At perihelion, how far is the earth from the sun?The red of the rising sun and the blue of the sky result from:Insolation at the surface is about 320 W per sq m in the tropics and about how much at the poles?Maximum insolation is received over which regions?Heating of air in contact with the warm ground, layer by layer, is called:Vertical heating of the atmosphere by rising air currents is called:Heat transfer through horizontal movement of air is called:The hot summer loo of northern India is the outcome of which process?Of 100 units of insolation, roughly how many are reflected back to space before reaching the surface?The reflected share of solar radiation is called the earth's:How many of the 100 units of insolation are absorbed by the earth's surface?A surplus of net radiation exists between which latitudes?The normal lapse rate of temperature with height is:Compared to land, the sea gets heated:Lines on a map joining places with equal temperature are:Which warm currents make the North Atlantic warmer, bending January isotherms north?The highest annual temperature range, over 60 C, in north-eastern Eurasia is due to:The least annual temperature range, about 3 C, is found between 20 S and:The average atmospheric pressure at sea level is:In the lower atmosphere, pressure falls by about 1 mb for every rise of:Lines connecting places having equal pressure are called:The high-pressure belts along 30 N and 30 S are the:The low-pressure belts along 60 N and 60 S are the:The force from the earth's rotation that deflects winds is the:The Coriolis force deflects wind in which direction in the northern hemisphere?The Coriolis force is maximum at the poles and absent at the:Wind blowing parallel to straight isobars, with gradient force balanced by Coriolis force, is the:Wind circulation around a low-pressure centre is called:The tropical convection cell between the ITCZ and 30 degrees is the:The mid-latitude cell whose surface winds are the westerlies is the:The appearance of warm water off the coast of Peru is known as:The combined phenomenon of the southern oscillation and El Nino is called:Cool air draining from high plateaus and ice fields into a valley is called:A large body of air with little horizontal variation in temperature and moisture is an:The boundary zone between two different air masses is a:A front where the warm air is fully lifted above the land surface is:Tropical cyclones are called what in the Atlantic?Tropical cyclones need a large sea surface with temperature above:The calm centre of a mature tropical cyclone, with subsiding air, is the:Wind in the eye wall of a tropical cyclone can reach up to:Water vapour in the air varies from zero to what per cent by volume?Moisture enters the atmosphere from plants through:The weight of water vapour per unit volume of air, in grams per cubic metre, is:The percentage of moisture present compared to full capacity at a given temperature is:Relative humidity is greatest over:Air holding moisture to its full capacity at a given temperature is said to be:The temperature at which saturation occurs in a sample of air is the:The transformation of water vapour into water is called:When water vapour condenses directly into solid form, the process is:Dew forms only when the dew point is:Frost forms on cold surfaces when condensation occurs:A cloud with its base at or very near the ground is:Fog mixed with smoke is described as:Compared with fog, mist contains:By height, expanse and density, clouds are grouped under how many basic types?Thin, detached, feathery white clouds at 8,000 to 12,000 m are:Clouds that look like cotton wool, with a flat base, are:Black or dark gray, extremely dense clouds near the surface are:Frozen raindrops that reach the ground as small pellets of ice are:The dry leeward side of a mountain that receives little rain is the:Orographic rainfall is also known as:The equatorial belt and monsoon coasts receive heavy annual rainfall of over:Koeppen's widely used classification of climate follows which approach?Koeppen found a close relationship between climate and the distribution of:Koeppen's classification scheme was developed in which year?How many major climatic groups did Koeppen recognise?In Koeppen's scheme, which capital letter marks the dry climates?In Koeppen's small letters, f means:The small letter w in Koeppen's types stands for:In Koeppen's dry climates, the capital S stands for:Tropical (A) climates have a coldest month averaging at least:In Koeppen's cold (E) climates, the average temperature of every month is below:The tropical wet (Af) climate is found in the Amazon Basin and:The tropical monsoon (Am) climate covers the Indian subcontinent, north-east South America and:The highest shade temperature of 58 C was recorded at Al Aziziyah in which country?The Al Aziziyah record of 58 C was set on 13 September of which year?The Mediterranean (Cs) climate is characterised by:Annual precipitation in the Mediterranean climate ranges between:The marine west coast (Cfb) climate covers north-western Europe and:The cold climate with dry winter (Dw) occurs mainly over:Polar climates exist poleward beyond which latitude?The tundra (ET) climate is the region of:The last major peak glacial period was about how many years ago?Europe's Little Ice Age lasted from 1550 to about: