MCQ Online Test: Environment- 3 - UPSC MCQ

Ans: d

Explanation: The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is a multilateral treaty for international cooperation and aims to protect plant resources from harmful pests which may be introduced through international trade. The Convention created a governing body consisting of each party, known as the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, which oversees the implementation of the Convention.

Ans: b

Explanation: The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971. World Wetlands Day is observed on 2 February. World Wetland Day marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971.

Ans: a

Explanation: The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks how well countries perform on high-priority environmental issues in two broad policy areas: protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems. . In the 2014 EPI ranking, Switzerland topped the list.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India is a statutory organization under the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). It Co-ordinate the activities of the State Boards by providing technical assistance and guidance and resolve disputes among them. There is no such requirement for the chairman of CPCB to be a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

Ans: d

Explanation: All the given mammals are critically endangered according to the Red Data Book of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Ans: a

Explanation: The Red Panda, also called lesser panda and red cat-bear, is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and south-western China. It has been classified as vulnerable by IUCN. The primary threats to red pandas are from competition with domestic livestock resulting in habitat degradation, and deforestation resulting in habitat loss or fragmentation

Ans: c

Explanation: A biodiversity hotspot is a bio-geographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans. The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Norman Myers in two articles in “The Environmentalist”. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot on Myers 2000 edition of the hotspot-map, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation.

Ans: c

Explanation: The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known simply as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste.

Ans: d

Explanation: A Red Data Book contains lists of species whose continued existence is threatened. Species are classified into different categories of perceived risk. Each Red Data Book usually deals with a specific group of animals or plants and fungi. They are now being published in many different countries and provide useful information on the threat status of the species.

Ans: c

Explanation: The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force on 11 September 2003. It is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.

Ans: b

Explanation: Kyoto Protocol of COP-3 to the UNFCCC is a legally binding agreement for Annex-I countries to reduce their collective Green House Gas emissions by 5.2% from 1990 level. The reduction obligation under Kyoto Protocol is additional to the CFCs and industrial gas emissions covered under the Montreal Protocol. 

Ans: b

Explanation: Water vapour also accounts for the largest percentage of the greenhouse effect, between 36% and 66% for clear sky conditions and between 66% and 85% when including clouds.

Ans: a

Explanation: They are called ‘Pampas’ in South America.

Ans: b

Explanation: The data only considers carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but not emissions from land use such as deforestation. In the list below the Countries have been ranked by their metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2008. 1.Qatar 2.Trinidad and Tobago 3.UAE 4.Netherlands 5.Bahrain

Ans: a

Explanation: A chronic occupational lung disease contracted by the prolonged breathing of coal mine dust. The silica and carbon in the coal dust cause black lung disease. About one of every 20 miners studied in the US has X-ray evidence of black lung disease, a form of pneumoconiosis. In its early stages, called simple pneumoconiosis, the disease does not prevent the miner from working or carrying on most normal activities. In some miners, the disease never becomes more severe. Pneumoconiosis is not reversible. There is no specific treatment. Black lung disease has gone by many names, including anthracosis, black lung, black spittle, coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, miner’s asthma, and silicosis.