NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 2 Theme: India and the World: Land and the People — The Big Questions

We measure the weather by measuring its five elements, each with its own instrument and its own unit. Monitoring means taking those readings at fixed times, day after day, and keeping a record.

All these instruments are kept together at a weather station, where readings are taken at regular intervals. An Automated Weather Station (AWS) does the same job by itself, using sensors, and can work in places where no one can stay — such as the AWS the National Disaster Management Authority set up in 2023 on a glacial lake in Sikkim, more than 4800 metres above sea level.

A prediction buys us time to act before the event arrives. Meteorologists study long records of temperature, pressure, wind, rain and humidity, and use scientific methods to say what the weather will do in the next few hours, days or weeks.

• Heavy rain and storms at sea — fishermen are warned not to take their boats out, and an entire coastal area can be evacuated if a cyclone is expected.
• Heavy rain inland — local governments move people out of low-lying areas, keep pumps and boats ready and stock relief material in advance.
• Drought — farmers can choose a hardier crop or a shorter-duration variety, and water in tanks and reservoirs can be rationed early instead of running out suddenly.
• Heat waves — schools change their timings, hospitals prepare for heat stroke, and drinking-water points are set up for people who work outdoors.
• Everyday planning — pilots and sailors use wind data, farmers decide when to sow or harvest, and a family knows whether to carry an umbrella on a school trip.