Test: Environment - 2 - UPSC MCQ

This increase causes the seawater to become more acidic and causes carbonate ions to be relatively less abundant. This is known as Ocean acidification. Effects of acidification: Statement 1 and 2 are correct. Carbonate ions are an important building block of structures such as seashells and coral skeletons. Decreases in carbonate ions can make building and maintaining shells and other calcium carbonate structures difficult for calcifying organisms such as oysters, clams, sea urchins,shallow water corals, deep sea corals, and calcareous plankton. Increasing acidity accentuates coral bleaching as corals are very sensitive to changes in water composition. Statement 3 is correct. These changes in ocean chemistry can affect the behaviour of non-calcifying organisms as well. Certain fish's ability to detect predators is decreased in more acidic waters. When these organisms are at risk, the entire food web may also be at risk. The majority of sulphur in the atmosphere is emitted from the ocean, often in the form of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) produced by phytoplankton. Some of DMS produced by phytoplankton enters the atmosphere and reacts to make sulphuric acid, which clumps into aerosols, or microscopic airborne particles. Aerosols seed the formation of clouds, which help cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight. Statement 4 is correct. But, in acidified ocean water, phytoplankton produce less DMS. This reduction of sulphur may lead to decreased cloud formation, raising global temperatures. KB) Cloud seeding is the process of spreading either dry ice or more commonly, silver iodide aerosols, into the upper part of clouds to try to stimulate the precipitation process and form rain. Since most rainfall starts through the growth of ice crystals from supercooled cloud droplets in the upper parts of clouds, the silver iodide particles are meant to encourage the growth of new ice particles

Option (d) is the correct answer. Global warming and climate change - while closely related and sometimes interchangeably used technically refer to two different things.

• “Global Warming” applies to the long-term trend of rising average global surface temperatures.

• “Climate change” is a broader term that reflects the fact that carbon pollution does more than just warm our planet. Carbon pollution is also changing rain and snow patterns and increasing the risk of intense storms and droughts. Another distinction between them is that scientists and scholars see global warming mostly as human induced warming whereas climate change, on the other hand, can mean human induced changes or natural ones, such as ice ages. Causes of climate change:

• Ocean Currents: Ocean currents act much like a conveyor belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, ocean currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface. Any change in the pattern or intensity of ocean currents will lead to climate change.

• Volcanic activity: Volcanic eruptions release dust particles and gases, these stay in the atmosphere for a long time and block the sun’s rays resulting in cooling of the environment.

• Industrial Revolution: Chlorofluorocarbons are synthetic compounds entirely of industrial origin. Humans have also increased atmospheric CO₂ concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived "forcing" of climate change.

• Sunspot cycle: The increased sunspot activity (increase in the number of sunspots) causes warming of the earth’s surface and its atmosphere and vice versa. Sunspots are darker and cooler areas in the photosphere of the sun.

• Solar irradiance: Changes in the sun's energy output would cause the climate to change, since the sun is the fundamental source of energy that drives our climate system.

Pair 1 is correctly matched. The Indian Desert Zone covers about 6.6 per cent of the total geographical area. It includes the Thar and the Kutch deserts and has large expanses of grassland that supports several endangered species of mammals such as Wolf (Canis lupus), Caracal (Felis caracal), Desert Cat (Felis libyca) and birds of conservation interest viz., Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) and the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps). Pair 2 is correctly matched.

The Alpine and subalpine forests, grassy meadows and moist mixed deciduous forests provide diverse habitat for endangered species of bovids such as Bharal (Pseudois nayaur), Ibex (Capra ibex), Markhor (Capra falconeri), Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), and other rare and endangered species restricted to this zone include Hangul (Cervus eldi eldi) and Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus). Pair 3 is incorrectly matched. Western Ghats covers about 4.0 per cent of the total geographical area. It is one of the major tropical evergreen forest regions in India. The zone stretches from the hills to the South of the Tapti River in the North to Kanyakumari in the South. In the West, this zone is bound by the coast.

This zone represents one of the biodiversity 'hotspots with some 15,000 species of higher plants, of which 4,000 (27 per cent) are endemic to the region. The Western Ghats harbour viable populations of most of the vertebrate species found in peninsular India, besides an endemic faunal element of its own. Significant species endemic to this region include Nilgiri Langur (Presbytis johni), Lion Tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus), Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura), Malabar Civet (Viverricula megaspila), Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius) and Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus). The Swamp Deer (Cervus duvauceli), is now restricted to Madhya Pradesh in the deccan plateau zone. A few survive in Assam's Kaziranga and Manas National Parks. In 2005, a small population of about 320 individuals was discovered in the Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve in Haridwar district in Uttarakhand on the east bank of the Ganges. This represents the northern limit of the species. Pair 4 is incorrectly matched.

The North-East zone is another biodiversity zone. It covers about 5.2 per cent of the total geographical area in India. It represents the transition zone between the Indian, Indo-Malayan and Indo- Chinese bio-geographical regions as well as being a meeting point of the Himalayan mountains and peninsular India. The North-East is thus the biogeographical 'gateway' for much of India's fauna and flora. It is a major biodiversity hotspot.

A diverse set of habitats coupled with long term geological stability has allowed the development of significant levels of endemism in all animal and plant groups. Namdapha Flying Squirrel is endemic to northeastern India and found only in Namdapha National Park of Arunachal Pradesh. Pitcher plant is endemic to the The Andaman and Nicobar Islands zone.

Flora:

• Needle Bush

• Lantana Camara

• Calotropis

• Water Hyacinth

• Impatiens Balsam

• Parthenium

• Senna Spectabilis

• Touch-Me-Not

• Sleeping Grass

Fauna:

• Giant African Snail

• Myna

• Pigeon

• Donkey

The exotic seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii was introduced in the Gulf of Mannar in 2005. The K. alvarezii is a red seaweed native to the Philippines and is an invasive species in the non-native environs of Gulf of Mannar. Fruit bats are Vermin under Schedule V of the Wildlife Protection Act but not invasive species. KB) The wild growth of invasive alien plants such as Senna spectabilis (calceolaria shower), Lantana, Eupatorium and Parthenium is posing a threat to wildlife and indigenous plants in the forest areas of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, including the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS), a major habitat of Asiatic elephants in the country.

Fragmentation of habitat either due to natural causes (floods, fires, droughts, earthquakes) or man made (roads, construction, settlement, pollution) is also a major threat to biodiversity.

Invasive alien species take over the ecosystem and compete with the indigenous species for resources thus posing a threat to biodiversity. Promotion of Vegetation does not pose a threat to biodiversity, on the other hand it might help reduce the stress on ecosystems and biodiversity.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Sand mining is the extraction of sand through an open pit but sometimes mined from inland dunes from oceans, riverbeds and beaches. It is defined under section 3(e) of Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act,1957(MMDR Act). This law has been implemented by the government to prevent illegal mining.

• Statement 2 is correct. As per Section 15 of the MMDR Act, 1957, State Governments have complete powers for making Rules for grant of concessions in respect of extraction of minor minerals and levy and collection of royalty on minor minerals. The regulation of grant of mineral concessions for minor minerals is, therefore, within the legislative and administrative domain of the state governments. The central government has the power to notify “minor minerals” under section 3 (e) of the MMDR Act, 1957.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Carbon dots are fluorescent nanoparticles that show similar physical and optical properties to the well-known semiconductor quantum dots.

• Statement 3 is correct. However, the building block of carbon dots is made primarily out of carbon, with some doped heteroatoms, creating a nanoparticle that is more biocompatible and less toxic compared with the quantum dots that commonly contain heavy metals.

• Statement 2 is correct. They can be easily prepared via various economical and environmentally friendly approaches, and can be designed with biomolecules to achieve the required biosensing properties. The analytical performance of the nanoprobes can be improved significantly due to the large surface to volume ratio of the carbon dots. The fluorescence serves as a sensing signal, and responds accordingly to the results of the interaction between the carbon dots and the analyte of interest.

• India had launched the Pulse Polio immunisation programme in 1995, after a resolution for a global initiative of polio eradication was adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1988.

• The children in the age group of 0-5 years are administered polio drops during national and sub-national immunisation rounds (in high-risk areas) every year.

• Under the programme,all states and Union Territories have developed Rapid Response Teams (RRT) to respond to any polio outbreak in the country.

• Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans (EPRP) have also been developed by states indicating steps to be undertaken in case of detection of a polio case.

Secondly, it will open avenues of additional income for dairy farmers from the sale of slurry/ dung. Thirdly, efficient manure management promotes general well-being & cleanliness and contributes to increasing the productive economic life cycle of the milch animals beyond milking. Thereby helping tackle the problem of stray cattle & lowering GHG emissions.

Statement 1 is correct: It controls the trans-boundary movement of mercury. It does not include natural emissions of mercury. Statement 2 is incorrect: The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for ratification of Minamata Convention on Mercury along with flexibility for continued use of mercury-based products and processes involving mercury compounds up to 2025 and depositing the instrument of ratification enabling India to become a Party of the Convention.

Statement 3 is correct: The GEF serves as "financial mechanism" to five conventions, which are Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Plantation is also a type of commercial farming. In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on a large area. The plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry. Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the help of migrant labourers.

All the produce is used as raw material in respective industries. In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc.are important plantation crops. Tea in Assam and North Bengal coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown in these states. Intensive type of farming is practised in areas of high population pressure on land. It is labour- intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.

Statement 2 is correct. Relay Cropping: Growing two or more crops simultaneously during the part of the life cycle of each. A second crop is planted after the first crop has reached its reproductive stage of growth, but before it is ready for harvest. Often simply referred to as relay cropping. Example: Redgram- base crop for 180 days. Groundnut/onion/coriander- One set of intercrops. Samai/ thinai/panivaragu- 2nd set of intercrops.

Statement 3 is correct. Ratooning refers to raising a crop with re-growth coming out of roots or stalks after harvest of crops.

Ratooning is a method of harvesting a crop which leaves the roots and the lower parts of the plant uncut to give the ratoon or the stubble crop.This method cannot be used endlessly as the yield of the ratoon crop decreases after each cycle. Ratooning is most often used with crops which are known to give a steady yield for three years under most conditions. Example: Sugarcane, Banana, Pineapple.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The ReCAAP is the first regional Government-to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.

Statement 2 is correct. The Union Government has designated Indian Coast Guard (ICG) as the focal point within India for ReCAAP. Information sharing, capacity building and mutual legal assistance are the three pillars of co-operation under the ReCAAP agreement.

Statement 1 is correct. The CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme is a site-based system designed to monitor trends in the illegal killing of elephants, build management capacity and provide information to help range States to make appropriate management and enforcement decisions.

Statement 2 is correct. SAWEN, a Regional network, is composed of eight countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It aims at working as a strong regional intergovernmental body for combating wildlife crime by attempting common goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region. KB) Adoption of SAWEN statute envisions India being part of the regional intergovernmental body in combating wildlife crime in the region and beyond.

Following objectives have been set to attain the goal:

• To take initiatives for bringing harmonisation and standardisation in laws and policies of member countries concerning conservation of fauna and flora;

• To document the trend of poaching and illegal trade, and related threats to the natural biodiversity within and across countries in the region;

• To strengthen institutional responses to combat wildlife crime by promoting research and information sharing, training and capacity building, technical support, sharing experiences and outreach; and

• To encourage member countries to prepare and implement their National Action Plans in curbing wildlife crime and to collaborate towards effective implementation.

All of the statements given are correct.

1. The World Health Organization (WHO) has indeed launched a global campaign urging governments to adopt the AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) online tool to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

2. The AWaRe tool is designed to guide healthcare professionals in selecting the right antibiotic for the right infection, and it classifies antibiotics into three groups: Access, Watch, and Reserve. The Access group includes antibiotics that should be used as first-line treatments for common infections, while the Watch and Reserve groups include antibiotics that should be used more sparingly to preserve their effectiveness.

3. The new campaign aims to decrease the proportion of global consumption of antibiotics in the Access group to at least 60%, thereby encouraging the appropriate use of antibiotics and reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL (NGT)

Statement 1 is correct. The Preamble of The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 provides for the establishment of a National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources, including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Statement 2 is correct. With the establishment of the NGT, India has joined the distinguished league of countries that have a dedicated adjudicatory forum to address environmental disputes. India is the third country in the world to have a full-fledged green tribunal followed by New Zealand and Australia.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The specialised architecture of the NGT will facilitate fast track resolution of environmental cases and provide a boost to the implementation of many sustainable development measures. NGT is mandated to dispose of the cases within six months of their respective appeals.

The Mission will be implemented with the objectives to:

• development and conservation of indigenous breeds

• undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds so as to improve the genetic makeup and increase the stock;

• enhance milk production and productivity;

• upgrade nondescript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi and

• distribute disease free high genetic merit bulls for natural service. Statement 2 is correct.

National Livestock Mission (NLM) launched in the financial year 2014-15 seeks to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders. The scheme is being implemented as a sub scheme of Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana (White Revolution) from April 2019. The objectives of the scheme are sustainable development of the livestock sector, focusing on improving availability of quality feed and fodder, risk coverage, effective extension, improved flow of credit and organisation of livestock farmers/rearers.

These nutrients “fertilise” surface waters, encouraging the growth of plant life, including phytoplankton. These phytoplankton serve as the ultimate energy base in the ocean for large animal populations higher in the food chain, providing food for fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and other critters. Upwelling can also play an important role in the movement of marine animals. Most marine fish and invertebrates produce microscopic larvae which, depending on the species, may drift in the water for weeks or months as they develop.

For adult marine creatures that live in shallow waters nearshore, upwelling that moves surface water offshore can potentially move drifting larvae long distances away from their natural habitat, thus reducing chances for survival. Thus, it will reduce the overall productivity by reducing the diversity of the region. In some ways, upwelling can be a mixed blessing to coastal ecosystems. It can infuse coastal waters with critical nutrients that fuel dramatic productivity, but it can also rob coastal ecosystems of offspring required to replenish coastal populations.

Reason behind decline of Pollinators: Anthropogenic Activities: The decline of moths, bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinators is undeniably linked to human activity:

• Large tracts of natural habitats have been cleared for monoculture cultivation; the use of pesticides and fertilisers is pushing out nature’s little helpers. Native Indian bees, when exposed to multiple pesticides, suffer from memory and olfactory impairment, lower response rates, and oxidative stress which damages cells.

• Between 1964 and 2008, there was a 40-60% growth in relative yields of pollinator-dependent crops, while pollinator-independent crops such as cereals and potatoes saw a corresponding 140% rise in yields.

• In Kashmir, researchers have pinned lowering yields of apple trees on the declining frequency of bee visits. In north India, lowering yields of mustard cultivation may be caused by disappearing pollinators. Researchers at the University of Virginia have discovered that air pollution from automobiles and power plants has been inhibiting the ability of pollinators such as bees and butterflies to find the fragrances of flowers.

  Natural causes:

• Rapid transfer of parasites and diseases of pollinator species around the world

• Changes in seasonal behaviour due to global warming: In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that bees, butterflies, and other pollinators faced increased risk of extinction because of global warming due to alterations in the seasonal behaviour of species. Climate change was causing bees to emerge at different times in the year when flowering plants were not available.

THE OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES RULES

• Statement 1 is incorrect. The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 (not 2001) under the Environment (Protection) Act, in July 2000.

• Statement 2 is correct. These Rules prohibit the use of CFCs in manufacturing various products beyond 1st January 2003. Except in metered dose inhalers and for other medical purposes.

• Statement 3 is correct. Further, the use of methyl bromide has been allowed up to 1st January 2015.

  Since HCFCs are used as interim substitutes to replace CFC, these are allowed up to 1st January 2040. These Rules set the deadlines for phasing out of various ODSs, besides regulating production, trade import and export of ODSs and the product containing ODS.

  The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rule, 2000 was amended in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 to facilitate implementation of ODS phase-out at enterprises in various sectors. Similarly, use of halons is prohibited after 1st January 2001 except for essential use. Other ODSs such as carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform and CFC for metered dose inhalers can be used up to 1st January 2010.

Phosphorus is a major constituent of biological membranes, nucleic acids and cellular energy transfer systems.

• Statement 1 is correct. Many animals also need large quantities of this element to make shells, bones and teeth.

• Statement 2 is correct. The natural reservoir of phosphorus is rock, which contains phosphorus in the form of phosphates. When rocks are weathered, minute amounts of these phosphates dissolve in soil solution and are absorbed by the roots of the plants. Herbivores and other animals obtain this element from plants. The waste products and the dead organisms are decomposed by phosphate-solubilising bacteria releasing phosphorus.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. Unlike carbon cycles, there is no respiratory release of phosphorus into the atmosphere.

All the statements are correct. The effectiveness of any given GHG molecule will depend on the magnitude of the increase in its concentration, its lifetime in the atmosphere and the wavelength of radiation that it absorbs. The more time the GHG molecule remains in the atmosphere, the longer it will take for earth‟s atmospheric system to recover from any change brought about by the latter. The effectiveness of a greenhouse gas is also measured by the Global Warming Potential (GWP).

The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of different gases. Specifically, it is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO₂). The larger the GWP, the more that a given gas warms the Earth compared to CO₂ over that time period. The time period usually used for GWPs is 100 years.

Seaweed cultivation, as a diversification activity in agriculture, has tremendous potential all along the Indian coast. Seaweeds are rich in vitamins and minerals and are consumed as food in various parts of the world and used for the production of phytochemicals, viz., agar, carrageenan and alginate, which are widely employed as gelling, stabilising and thickening agents in several industries of food, confectionery, pharmaceutical, dairy, textile, paper, paint, etc.

Functions of seaweeds :

• Food for marine organism

• Habitat for fish breeding grounds

• Source of sediment Uses of seaweeds :

• Food for humans, feed for animals and fertiliser for plants

• Drug for goitre treatment, intestinal and stomach disorders

• Products like agar-agar and alginates, iodine which are of commercial value, extracted from seaweeds

• Biodegradation of seaweeds releases methane like economically important gases that be produced in large quantities

• Potential indicators of pollution in ecosystem KB) The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) assists the following components to support Seaweed cultivation:

• Training and demonstration

• Establishment of seaweed processing units

These are Wetlands - Associated States

1. Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest- Tamil Nadu

2. Karikili Bird Sanctuary - Tamil Nadu

3. Pichavaram Mangrove - Tamil Nadu

4. Pala wetland - Manipur

5. Sakhya Sagar Lake - Madhya Pradesh

Statement 1 is correct: It combines financial returns from the sale of emission reductions (i.e., carbon credits) which increase local incomes and provide other indirect benefits from sustainable land management practices. Generating multiple revenue streams is crucial to rural communities that otherwise have limited sources of income.

It promotes shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. The Scheme shall be implemented through a multi-agency framework by selected insurance companies under the overall guidance & control of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India (GOI) and the concerned State in coordination with various other agencies; viz Financial Institutions like Commercial Banks, Co- operative Banks, Regional Rural Banks and their regulatory bodies, Government Departments viz. Agriculture, Co- operation, Horticulture, Statistics, Revenue, Information/Science & Technology, Panchayati Raj etc.

• Statement 2 is correct. Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado. Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases will also be covered.

• Statement 3 is correct. There is provision to use available technology in the fields of remote sensing, aerial imagery, satellites etc. that can help in acreage estimation, crop health / loss estimation, quicker yield estimation etc. with reduced manpower & infrastructure. With the development of a number of satellites with high resolution images orbiting the Earth, there have been great improvements in satellite imagery products.It has been reasonably proven that satellite imagery can help in demarcating the cropped areas into clusters on the basis of crop health.

Five Major Objectives:

• To educate students learn about conservation of water.

• To sensitise Students about the impact of scarcity of water.

• To empower Students to learn to protect the natural sources of water.

• Statement 2 is correct. To help every Student to save at least one litre of water per day.

• To encourage Students towards judicious use and minimum wastage of water at home and school level. Target:

• One Student – One Day – Save One Litre Water.

• One Student – One Year – Save 365 Litres Water.

• One Student – 10 Years – Save 3650 Litres Water.

Statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct. The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and promoting food security. The WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself. Born in 1961, WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. The WFP is governed by an Executive Board which consists of representatives from member states. The WFP operations are funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors.

Statement 3 is correct. WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS.