Consider the following statements about a heated and a cooled column of air over adjacent regions: 1. Over a strongly heated surface, surface air pressure tends to fall and a low-pressure area develops. 2. Over a strongly cooled surface, surface air pressure tends to rise and a high-pressure area develops. 3. Surface winds generally blow from the nearby high-pressure area toward the low-pressure area. Which of the above statements are correct?

Introduction / Context:
This question connects three closely related ideas in climatology: how heating and cooling affect surface pressure, and how horizontal winds respond to pressure differences. Understanding these relationships is key to explaining local breezes, regional wind systems, and global circulation patterns. The three statements describe basic mechanisms that operate from the scale of sea breezes to monsoon systems.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• One region is strongly heated at the surface, while a nearby region is relatively cooler.
• We assume normal gravitational conditions and typical behaviour of gases.
• No extreme disturbances like tropical cyclones are dominating the situation.
• Winds are considered near the surface where friction is present but does not change the basic direction from high to low pressure.

Concept / Approach:
Heating reduces air density, causes air to rise, and lowers surface pressure, producing a low pressure area. Cooling increases density, encourages sinking, and raises surface pressure, producing a high pressure area. Once a pressure difference exists horizontally, the pressure gradient force pushes air from the higher pressure region toward the lower pressure region. This movement appears as surface winds flowing from high to low pressure, even though the Earth's rotation and friction can bend the wind somewhat.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Sea breeze circulation along coastlines is a good example. During the day, land heats faster, creating relatively lower pressure over land and higher pressure over the cooler sea. Air flows from sea (high) to land (low), matching statements 1 to 3. At night the pattern reverses as land cools faster, showing how heating and cooling create alternating high and low pressure zones and associated winds.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A omits statement 3 and therefore ignores the crucial role of pressure gradient in driving winds. Option B leaves out statement 1, missing the effect of heating. Option C drops statement 2, ignoring high pressure formation over cooled surfaces. Option E keeps only statement 1 and ignores the other two correct statements. None of these options represent the full, correct picture.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes correctly understand heating and cooling effects but forget the step from pressure difference to wind. Others assume winds can blow from low to high pressure, which is opposite to the action of the pressure gradient force. Another pitfall is treating each statement in isolation and not seeing how all three fit together in a consistent physical model.

Final Answer:
All three statements accurately describe the behaviour of heated and cooled air columns and the resulting surface winds, so statements 1, 2 and 3 are correct.