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India is approximately a third the size of the United States
and yet it holds an extraordinary range of climate and landscape.
To the north stand the mighty Himalayas.
They are not only the highest mountain range in the world they are also
the youngest
increasing by an estimated one and half inches every year.
This vast wall of rock protects the rest of the country from the cold winds
of central Asia
and gives India a milder climate than most other countries at this latitude.
The melt waters of Himalayan glaciers also give rise to India's greatest river the Ganges.
The Ganges and her sister river,
the Brahmaputra, flow out across the vast flood plains of northern India.
This rich farmland supports the lives of 1/12th of the world's population.
When the Ganges finally spills out into the Bay of Bengal,
it spreads out into a vast delta. This is home to the biggest mangrove forest in
the world
known as the Sundarbans.
One thousand miles to the west lush forests gives way to the rocky wilderness
of the Great Thar Desert.
This arid land sees rainfall of less than 4 inches per year.
The Thar Desert experiences the most extreme temperatures in India.
In the summer months, the mercury rises to over 113 degrees Fahrenheit
and during winter nights, it can fall to below freezing.
To the south India becomes increasingly tropical especially in the low line
coastal areas.
But the single most important aspect of India's climate
is the monsoon. It provides up to 80 percent of the country's rainfall.
The monsoon hits southwestern India in June
and tracks northeast until it finally dies in late September.
Seventy percent of India's population of 1.2 billion people depend on agriculture
and the vast majority of agriculture in India
depends on the arrival of the monsoon.
Very little is known about how the Indian monsoon might react
to increasing global temperatures
but even the smallest changes to this delicately balanced weather system can
cause massive destruction and loss of life across the whole of India.
Any long-term change to the monsoon
poses perhaps the greatest threat to India's future.