Climatology (Geography).
Syllabus: UPSC Pre GS1: Indian & World Geography; Mains GS1
Mission Mausam for UPSC: how weather is forecast, IMD and MoES bodies, ₹2,000 crore mission, radars, Bharat Forecast System, supercomputers, challenges.
Ocean currents for UPSC: forces that drive them, warm and cold currents ocean-wise, gyres, Indian Ocean monsoon currents, thermohaline circulation and effects.
Cyclones for UPSC: conditions for tropical cyclones, eye and eyewall, IMD categories, naming system, temperate cyclones, Bay of Bengal vs Arabian Sea…
Indian monsoon for UPSC: differential heating, ITCZ, jet streams, Tibetan plateau, onset, breaks, retreat, northeast monsoon, ENSO and IOD links, PYQs.
Jet streams for UPSC: how they form, polar front and subtropical westerly jets, tropical easterly jet, Rossby waves, western disturbances, monsoon onset,…
El Nino for UPSC: normal Walker circulation, El Nino and La Nina, Southern Oscillation Index, ONI, Modoki, Indian Ocean Dipole, impacts on…
On 12 October 2026 the India Meteorological Department dedicated a Cyclone Warning and Marine Weather Services Decision Support System to the nation. The WebGIS platform shows cyclone track, intensity, winds, rainfall, storm surge and district-wise warnings on one map for disaster managers and the public.
UPSC angle: Prelims: IMD, cone of uncertainty, storm surge. · Mains GS-III: early warning and disaster preparedness.
13 Oct 2026
As on 14 August 2026, kharif crops covered 1016.57 lakh hectares, against 1037.52 lakh hectares a year earlier, the Agriculture Ministry said. Rice area was 379.07 lakh hectares, down 14.37 lakh hectares. Pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds and cotton were slightly behind. Uttar Pradesh reported more area under pulses and oilseeds.
UPSC angle: Prelims: kharif crops.
17 Aug 2026
Scientists, with ARIES Nainital as a key participant, found an unusually thick ozone layer about 21 to 23 km above the North Bay of Bengal during the NetRAD-ASMA campaign. It lasted over a day, by day and night. The study, in AGU's Earth and Space Science, links it to ozone-rich air being carried in, then sinking and compressing.
UPSC angle: Prelims: ozone layer basics.
10 Aug 2026
El Niño conditions that developed in May 2026 are likely to persist from June 2026 to February 2027, with probabilities of 70 to 90 per cent, the Earth Sciences Minister told Lok Sabha on 5 August. The outlook comes from INCOIS's indigenous AI/ML-based ENSO prediction system. He said El Niño is not the only factor for the monsoon.
UPSC angle: Prelims: ENSO, IOD.
5 Aug 2026
A pollen study by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences links the shrinking of the Harappan Civilization to a weak Indian Summer Monsoon between about 5100 and 4000 years before present, the Science Ministry said on 29 July 2026. Sediments from Deoria Tal in the Garhwal Himalaya show an abrupt dry spell, the "4.2 ka event".
UPSC angle: Prelims: IVC decline theories.
29 Jul 2026
As on 10 July 2026, total kharif area sown was 531.25 lakh hectares against 632.69 lakh hectares a year earlier, the Agriculture Ministry said on 13 July. Rice stood at 114.69 lakh ha versus 125.53 lakh ha. Pulses, oilseeds and cotton were also behind last year; sugarcane and jute were slightly ahead.
UPSC angle: Prelims: kharif crops.
13 Jul 2026