With reference to high pressure and low pressure areas on surface maps, which of the following statements is or are correct?

Concept overview / definition High pressure and low pressure are commonly drawn on weather maps as H and L centres, but these labels are not fixed absolute numbers. In practice, whether a location is treated as a high or a low depends on how its pressure compares with the pressures at nearby locations. The teacher illustrates this with values like 10, 11 and 12 millibars where the same value can behave as high in one comparison and low in another, showing that the concept is relative.

Why the correct option is correct Statement 1 is correct because a place is called high pressure only when its value is higher than the surrounding values, and low pressure when it is lower than its neighbours. Statement 2 is also correct, as seen in the example where 11 millibars is higher than 10 but lower than 12, so it can act as high in one pair and low in another. Together these statements capture the idea that the labels high and low are meaningful only with reference to a chosen neighbourhood and cannot be fixed globally.

Why the other options are incorrect Statement 3 wrongly claims that high and low pressure areas are defined by fixed absolute thresholds that are the same everywhere on Earth. This contradicts the explanation that the same numerical value can be high or low depending on context. Therefore any option that treats high and low as universal fixed categories is incorrect. As a result, options that include Statement 3 as correct cannot be chosen if you follow the relative nature described in the class discussion.

UPSC exam tip / common confusion Many candidates think of high pressure and low pressure as single numbers to memorise, which leads to confusion when reading seasonal maps. In prelims, whenever a question compares pressure at different points, think in terms of relative differences rather than absolute labels. First list which point has the highest and which has the lowest value in that set and only then use the terms high and low. This habit helps you avoid traps where the examiner plays with changing reference points across diagrams.