 The monsoon is the governing force for the way of life in the Asian sub-continent as agriculture depends on the rains.
It brings prolonged and heavy rain to India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and the inevitable annual flooding.
Overall, half of the tropics (one quarter of the surface area of the entire globe) can be defined as a monsoon climate. Because of the intensity of the weather, these monsoon climates are a natural laboratory for scientists to observe the way the land, sea and atmosphere regimes interact with each other and influence weather through the exchange of moisture and energy.
The large area involved and the grand scale of the weather within monsoon climates suggest that monsoons play a significant role in the management of the global climate.
One of the most important variable is the timing of the beginning of the wet season. This onset date propagates across the Indian subcontinent from the Bay of Bengal towards the interior bringing the intense rains. The reverse process, the monsoon retreat, marks the end of the wet season, and travels from the interior out towards the Bay of Bengal.
Floods
 Floods are a normal occurrence for the people of south Asia. Every year, floods destroy crops and displace the region's inhabitants. Floods are most common in the low lands of Bangladesh where the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers meet.
Floods are both a hazard and an asset. While the floods are drowning crops and livestock, and damaging property, they are also fertilising the soil in the form of silt.
Drought
Of all natural disasters, drought is by far the most feared. When the rains do not come, crops are not planted and food supplies dwindle. The effects of which can be devastating. Between 1899-1901, about 15% of the population of Gujarat in western India died from famine. Estimates of 10 million in Bengal in a famine in 1770, 800,00 in UP in 1836, and one million in Orissa in 1865-66 are just a few examples of the damage drought can have.
These periods all have in common one thing, the failure of the rains, which is the first link in the chain that leads to famine. While the people of Monsoon Asia lived in drought prone areas for hundreds of years, it is only during the last 25 years that methods have been developed to safeguard against famines.
Agriculture
The fate of the Indian subcontinent is bound head and tail to the course of the monsoon. When the monsoon deviates from its normal patterns, agricultural operations are disrupted, and since India’s economy is based largely upon agriculture, the result of such deviation can be disastrous.
 If the rains come too late, farmers will sow few or no seeds, fearing a drought. If there is a lack of continued showers or breaks in the rain, plant seedlings may not survive. As the crops grow, later breaks or meagre rainfall may limit the number and size of maturing plants. If the rains are too hard, young plants and seedlings can be washed away.
All these factors can greatly increase the price, or decrease the availability of publicly available food in India. If the deviation from the normal patterns is great, the result can be famine.
Related links
The Asian Monsoon
India Meteorological Department
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