Test: Environment- 9 - UPSC MCQ

• Burning of coal by man is the main source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. It has nothing to do with adding nitrogen to the soil.
• Nitrogenous waste products of living organisms such as urea and dead remain of organisms are converted back into inorganic ammonia by the bacteria.

• Saltmarshes are one of the key coastal ‘blue carbon’ habitats, recognised for their ability to store carbon within above- and below-ground biomass and sediments.
• Saltmarshes sequester carbon at a rate two to four times greater than that recorded for mature tropical forests.

Carbon capture utilization storage is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide (CO₂) from large point sources, such as fossil fuel power plants, and either transporting it to a storage site where it will not enter the atmosphere, normally an underground geological formation, or reusing it.

• Oceans are one of the largest carbon sinks on earth because of their large geographical coverage and presence of rich population of phytoplankton and seagrass, which act as carbon sink.
• Carbon dioxide readily dissolves in water and the oceans provide a huge reservoir of carbon. Across the world’s oceans there is a continual cycle of equilibration of dissolved carbon dioxide in water with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• The difference in partial pressure of the CO₂ between seawater and air facilitate gaseous exchange. This allows atmospheric CO₂ to dissolve in seawater.
• The carbon dioxide which dissolves in our oceans occurs in three main forms. Aside from the normal carbon dioxide form, it is also found as bicarbonate and carbonate ions.

• Geoengineering schemes are projects designed to tackle the effects of climate change directly, usually by removing CO₂ from the air or limiting the amount of sunlight reaching the planet’s surface.
• The first category of scheme – those designed to remove CO₂ from the air – include machines (sometimes called “artificial trees”) that pull the gas from the atmosphere using plastic polymers. Other proposals seek to increase the amount of CO₂ absorbed by the oceans – for example by adding large quantities of lime to the water.
• In the second category – schemes designed to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching Earth – proposals include firing sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight back to space; using unmanned ships to increase above-ocean cloud cover by spraying sea water into the air; painting the world’s roofs white to increase reflectivity; and even floating thousands of tiny mirrors in space between Earth and the sun.

Ozone depleting substances include:

• chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
• hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs)
• halons
• methyl bromide
• carbon tetrachloride
• methyl chloroform.

According to IPCC report, climate change would hit the poorest countries severely in terms of reducing the agricultural products.

• Crop yield would be reduced due to decreased water availability, and new or changed insect/pest incidence. This is because higher temperature is conducive for the growth of pests.
• Agriculture will be adversely affected not only by an increase or decrease in the overall amounts of rainfall but also by shifts in the timing of the rainfall.

The amount of oxygen that is required for the chemical oxidation of the organic and inorganic chemicals present in the wastewater by utilising oxidising agents like Potassium permanganate, Potassium dichromate etc. is called as chemical oxygen demand (COD). COD is the oxygen demand that is consumed by both inorganic and organic matter present in the wastewater sample.

The following pollutants are emitted from motor vehicles:
Particulate matter (PM).
Un-burnt hydrocarbons.
Nitrogen oxides (NO_x).
Carbon monoxide (CO).
Carbon dioxide (CO₂).
Sulphur dioxide (SO2).
Methane
While ozone is not emitted directly from automobiles, the unstable compound is formed in the atmosphere through a complex set of chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and sunlight.

Permafrost contains carbon that was trapped since ages, and its release after melting accelerates global warming.
Rice fields are wetlands that release methane which is a GHG accelerating global warming.
Cattle breeding also release methane.
Suspended particles from volcanic ash, when spread in the atmosphere, reduce solar insolation and help in cooling the earth.

• Botanical Survey of India conducts census of orchids in India.
• A State-wise distribution of orchid species point out that the Himalayas, North-East parts of the country and Western Ghats are the hot-spots of the beautiful plant species.
• While north-east India rank at the top in species concentration, the Western Ghats have high endemism of orchids.
• Entire orchid family is listed under appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and hence any trade of wild orchid is banned globally.

• Mukurthi National Park (MNP) is a protected area located in the western corner of the Nilgiris Plateau west of Ootacamund hill station in the northwest corner of Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. The park was created to protect its keystone species, the Nilgiri tahr.
• The park is characterised by montane grasslands and shrublands interspersed with sholas in a high-altitude area of high rainfall, near-freezing temperatures and high winds. It is home to an array of endangered wildlife, including royal Bengal tiger and Asian elephant, but its main mammal attraction is the Nilgiri tahr. The park was previously known as Nilgiri Tahr National Park.
• The park is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India’s first International Biosphere Reserve. As part of the Western Ghats, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1 July 2012.

• Tamil yeoman (Cirrochroa thais) butterfly species endemic to Western Ghats is the state butterfly of Tamil Nadu.
• Maharashtra was the first to declare Blue Mormon as its state butterfly, followed by Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern bird wings) and Kerala (Malabar banded peacock).

Kaziranga is crisscrossed by four main rivers — Brahmaputra, Diphlu, Mora Diphlu and Mora Dhansiri and has numerous small water bodies.

• India has signed a non-legally binding MOU with CMS on the conservation and management of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008) and Raptors (2016).
• India is a temporary home to several migratory animals and birds. The important among these include Amur Falcons, Bar-headed geese, Black-necked cranes, Marine turtles, Dugongs, Humpbacked Whales, etc. The Indian sub-continent is also part of the major bird flyway network, i.e, the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) that covers areas between the Arctic and Indian Oceans.

Magnesium forms a part of the chlorophyll molecule – essential in photosynthesis.
Iron is taken up in ferrous and ferric forms by plants. It acts as a catalyst in the production of chlorophyll.
Cu+2 (copper) can be absorbed through leaves. It becomes very toxic if too much applied. It is also a catalyst in chlorophyll formation.

The timber resources used to make wood pulp are referred to as pulpwood. While in theory, any tree can be used for pulp-making, coniferous trees are preferred because the cellulose fibers in the pulp of these species are longer, and therefore make stronger paper.
Some of the most commonly used softwood trees for paper making include spruce, pine, fir, larch and hemlock, and hardwoods such as eucalyptus, aspen and birch.

• Phytoplankton in the open ocean need both sunlight and nutrients (such as nitrate and phosphate) to be able to photosynthesize. 
• Abundant Sunlight is available in the uppermost layers.
• During photosynthesis, the nutrients are quickly used up by phytoplankton so they are not available for long periods in the upper layers under normal circumstances.
• This is indeed the case in tropical waters, and as a result they are very unproductive.
• To escape this problem the seawater needs to be mixed regularly to bring the nutrient rich deep waters up to the sunlight zone where the phytoplankton can grow.

Some Common Plant Diseases caused by Microorganisms

Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of day or night. It occurs in plants and animals.

• It has been observed that some plants require a periodic exposure to light to induce flowering. It is also seen that such plants are able to measure the duration of exposure to light.
• For example, some plants require the exposure to light for a period exceeding a well defined critical duration, while others must be exposed to light for a period less than this critical duration before the flowering is initiated in them.
• Together with temperature changes, photoperiod provokes changes in the colour of fur and feathers, migration, entry into hibernation, sexual behaviour etc. For e.g. the singing frequency of birds such as the canary depends on the photoperiod.

Biosphere is that part of the earth in which living organisms exist or which supports life. Please note we are not talking about the “biosphere reserve”.
Protected areas, just like any large ecosystem, are a significant part of our biosphere that is established to protect our flora, fauna and their habitats. So, the most appropriate analogy is option C where a tree is one among many species (both plant and animals) in a forest.

• The Shola vegetation are tropical montane forests found in the Western Ghats separated by rolling grasslands in high altitudes.
• These patches of shola forest are found mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating montane grassland.
• Shola forests are found in the higher elevation hill regions of the Nilgiris, Anaimalai, Munnar, Palni hills, Meghamalai, Agasthyamalai to the south and the Malnad and associated ranges in parts of Wayanad, Coorg, Baba Budangiri and Kudremukh up the north, in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• They have high concentration of lichen, mosses, ferns and orchids.

• The soil is poor in nutrients and acidic due to frequent leaching by heavy rains.
• Frequent rains wash away the top soil leaving only certain mineral and organic remains. So, if these forests are cleared, it will not yield tremendous vegetation growth as seen in tropical forests for a long time.
• However, rainforests are also notable for replenishing the soil quickly with dead organic matter (e.g. leafs that fall from trees).

To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:

• It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics— which is to say, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot, in other words, is irreplaceable.
• It must have 30% or less of its original natural vegetation. In other words, it must be threatened.
   

• Diet varies with species. Sea turtles may be carnivorous (meat eating), herbivorous (plant eating), or omnivorous (eating both meat and plants). The jaw structure of many species indicates their diet.
• For instance, Green sea turtles have finely serrated jaws adapted for a mostly vegetarian diet of sea grasses and algae. As adults, these are the only predominantly herbivorous sea turtles; although some occasionally also dine on jellyfish and sponges.
• Some species change eating habits as they age. For example, green sea turtles are mainly carnivorous from hatching until juvenile size; they then progressively shift to an herbivorous diet.