(i) The southwest monsoon begins to retreat from north India by the end of September due to the southward shifting pressure belts.
(ii) The southwest monsoon wind returns from Indian landmass and blows towards Bay of Bengal.
(iii) The Coriolis force deflects this wind and makes it to blow from northeast. Hence, it is known as Northeast monsoon or Postmonsoon season.
(iv) The season is associated with the establishment of the north -easterly wind system over the Indian subcontinent.
(v) Many parts of Tamil Nadu and some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka receive rainfall during this season due to the storms forming in the Bay of Bengal.
(vi) Large scale losses to life and property occur due to heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surge in the coastal regions.
(vii) The day time temperatures start falling sharply all over the country.
(viii) The mean temperature over north-western parts of the country shows a decline from about 38°C in October to 28°C in November.

Climate of India is affected by the factors of latitude, distance from the seas, monsoon wind, relief features, and jet stream.
(i) Latitude: 
(a) Latitudinally, India lies between 8°4'N and 37°6'N latitudes.
(b) The Tropic of Cancer divides the country into two equal halves.
(c) The area located to the south of Tropic of cancer experiences high temperature and no severe cold season throughout the year whereas, the areas to the north of this parallel enjoys sub-tropical climate.
(d) Here, summer temperature may rise above 40°C and it is close to freezing point during winter.
(ii) Altitude:
(a) When the altitude increases, The temperatures decreases.
(b) Temperature decreases at the rate of 6SC for every 1000 meters of ascent. It is called normal lapse rate.
(c) Hence, places in the mountains are cooler than the places on the plains.
(d) That is why the places located at higher altitudes even in south India have a cool climate.
(e) Ooty and several other hill stations of south India and of the Himalayan ranges like Mussoorie, Shimla, etc., are much cooler than the places located on the Great Plains.

On the basis of climate, soil and land form characteristics the natural vegetation of India can be divided into the following types.
Tropical Evergreen Forest:
i) These forest are found in areas with 200 cm or more annual rainfall.
ii) Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andaman Nicobar Islands, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya states have this type of forests.
iii) The most important trees are rubber, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, coconut, bamboo, cinchona, candes, palm, iron wood and cedar.
Tropical Deciduous Forest:
i) These forests are found in the areas with 100 to 200 cm annual rainfall.
ii) These are called 'Monsoon Forests'.
iii) The trees of these forests drop their leaves during the spring and early summer.
iv) These forests are found in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
v) Teak and Sal are the most important trees. Sandal wood, rose wood, Kusum, Mahua, Palas haldu, amla, padank, bamboo and tendu are the other trees of economic importance.
vi) These forests also provide fragrant oil, varnish, sandal oil and perfumes.
Tropical Dry Forest:
i) These forests are found in the areas with 50 to 100 cm annual rainfall.
ii) They represent a transitional type of forests.
iii) These are found in east Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern Maharashtra, Telangana, West Karnataka and East Tamil Nadu.
iv) The important species are mahua, banyan, amaltas, palas, haldu, kikar, bamboo, babool, khair, etc.
Tropical Thorn Forest:
i) These are found in the areas having annual rainfall of less than 50 cm.
ii) They have low humidity and high temperature.
iii) These forests are found in north - west India, which includes west Rajasthan, South west
iv) Haryana, North Gujarat, South  - west Punjab, parts of the Deccan plateau in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
v) Babul, Kikar and Wild palms are common trees found here.
Mountain or Montane Forest:
On the basis of altitude and amount of rainfall, these forests are classified into two.
i) Eastern Himalayan Forest,
ii) Western Himalayan Forest.
Alpine Forest:
i) It occurs all along the Himalayas with above 2400 m altitude.
ii) These are purely having coniferous trees.
iii) Oak, silver fir, pine and juniper are the main trees of these forests.
iv) The eastern parts of Himalayas have large extent of these forests.
Mangrove Forest:
i) These forests occur in and around the deltas, estuaries, creeks, prone to tidal influences and as such are also known as delta or swamp forests.
ii) The delta of the Ganga, Brahmaputra has the largest tidal forest.
iii) These are also known as Sundarbans forest.
iv) The deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna rivers are also known for tidal forests.
v) These are also known as tidal forests.

i) The Southwest Monsoon is the most significant feature of the Indian Climate.
ii) The onset of the Southwest Monsoon takes place normally over the southern tip of the country by the first week of June, advances along the Konkan coast in early June and covers the whole country by 15^th July.
iii) The sudden approach of monsoon wind over south India with lightning and thunder is termed as the 'break' or 'burst of monsoon'.
iv) The monsoon wind strikes against the southern tip of Indian landmass and gets divided into two branches.
a) Arabian Sea branch
b) Bay of Bengal branch
The Arabian Sea branch:
i) It gives heavy rainfall to west coast of India as it is located in the windward side of the Western Ghats.
ii) The other part which advances towards north is obstructed by Himalayan Mountains and results in heavy rainfall in north.
iii) As Aravalli Mountain is located parallel to the wind direction, Rajasthan and Western part do not get much rainfall from this branch.
Bay of Bengal branch:
i) The wind from Bay of Bengal branch moves towards northeast India and Myanmar.
ii) This wind is trapped by a chain of mountains namely Garo, Khasi and Jaintia which are mainly responsible for the heaviest rainfall caused at Mawsynram located in Meghalaya.
iii)Later on this wind it travels towards west which results in decrease in rainfall from east to west.
iv) Over all about 75% of Indian rainfall is received from this monsoon.

Biosphere reserves are protected areas of a land coastal environment where in people are an integral component of the system.

Natural vegetation can be classified as tropical evergreen forests, tropical deciduous forests, tropical dry forests, desert and semi desert vegetation, mountain forests, Alpine forests, Tidal forests, coastal forests, and Riverine forest.

(i) The Indian Board for Wildlife (IBWL) was constituted in 1952 to suggest means of protection, conservation, and management of wildlife to the government.
(ii) The government of India enacted Wildlife (Protection) Act in 1972 with the objective of effectively protecting the wildlife of the country and to control poaching, smuggling and illegal trade in wildlife and its diversities.
(iii) United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity( CBD) in 1992 recognizes the sovereign rights of states to use their own Biological Resources.

(i) The term 'Wildlife' includes animals of any habitat in nature.
(ii) Wild animals are non-domesticated animals and include both vertebrates (Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals) and invertebrates(Bees, Butterflies, Moths, etc.).
(iii) India has a rich and diversified wildlife.

Factors like latitude, distance from the sea, monsoon wind, relied on features and jet stream affect the climate of India.