NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 3 a) Latitude — LET'S REMEMBER
Book page 49 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
We studied about latitudes in Grade 6. Do you remember that latitudes measure the distance from the Equator, increasing as we move away from it (either northward or southward)? While the climate around the Equator is extremely hot, as the latitude increases it becomes temperate and then cold or frigid. Why is this so?
Answer
Because of the angle at which the sun's rays hit a particular area — and because of how much atmosphere they must cross to get there.
The idea behind Fig. 3.4. The same bundle of sunlight lands on a small patch at the Equator and on a wide, stretched patch near the pole.
Two reasons, both shown in Fig. 3.4:
The angle. At the Equator the rays are nearly perpendicular, so all their energy is focused on a smaller area of the Earth's surface. In the polar regions the rays are inclined or oblique, and the same energy is distributed over a larger surface — so each square metre gets less.
The path through the atmosphere. Slanting rays have to pass through more of the Earth's atmosphere, which further dissipates their energy.
As a result the polar regions receive less heat than the equatorial zone, and the climate goes from extremely hot at the Equator, to temperate, to cold or frigid as latitude increases.
Check it yourself: the chapter's Indian example — Kanniyakumari and the Nicobar Islands, being close to the Equator, are warm or hot almost throughout the year, whereas northern places such as Srinagar are much cooler.