Consider the following statements : ​ 1. In the tropical zone, the western sections of the oceans are warmer than the eastern sections owing to the influence of trade winds. ​ 2. In the temperate zone, westerlies make the eastern sections of oceans warmer than the western sections. ​ Which of the statements given above is/are correct? ​

Both statements are correct, so the answer is C. The core concept is how wind-driven surface currents redistribute heat across ocean basins.

• Statement 1 (correct): In the tropics, the trade winds blow east to west and push warm surface water westward. That is why the western Pacific warm pool is warmer than the eastern Pacific, where cold water upwells along the South American coast.
• Statement 2 (correct): In temperate latitudes, the westerlies blow west to east and carry warm water toward the eastern sections of ocean basins. The North Atlantic Drift keeps the western coasts of Europe, such as Britain and Norway, warmer than the Newfoundland coast at similar latitudes, where the cold Labrador Current flows.

This links to the Mains theme of ocean-atmosphere interaction, including how shifts in the Walker circulation drive El Niño and La Niña and their effects on Indian monsoon variability.

Trap: Candidates often apply the tropical pattern to the temperate zone, or confuse the direction of the westerlies with the trade winds, and so mark statement 2 as wrong.