Q.Briefly mention the alignment of major mountain ranges of the world and explain their impact on local weather conditions, with examples.

Body

Major Mountain Ranges and Their Weather Impacts:

• Andes Mountain Range: Extending north-to-south along western South America, it acts as a massive barrier to Pacific air masses. It creates wet, rainy conditions in the north and central-east, while forming a rain shadow that maintains the hyper-arid Atacama Desert to the west and dry plains in Argentina to the east.
• The Himalayas: Running west-to-east, this range isolates the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. It blocks freezing, dry Siberian winds from moving south, keeping South Asia significantly warmer than other regions at similar latitudes, while also trapping the summer monsoon to cause heavy rainfall.
• Rockies Mountain Range: Stretching across North America, they block moist Pacific winds, creating a pronounced rain shadow (arid conditions) on their eastern leeward slopes, while causing heavy precipitation on their western windward slopes.
• Great Dividing Range: Running parallel to Australia's east coast, it blocks moist air from the Tasman Sea, causing high coastal rainfall and leaving the vast inland interior dry.
• Atlas Mountains: Located in northwest Africa, they separate the Mediterranean coast from the Sahara Desert, acting as a barrier to moisture-laden Atlantic winds and creating a rain shadow over the desert interior.
• Ural Mountains: Running north-to-south, they mark the boundary between Europe and Asia, creating distinct climatic zones with cooler, wetter conditions on the western slopes and drier, continental weather to the east.