Environment & Ecology Mixed Quiz: Set 18

The correct answer is A, 6. The Kyoto Protocol set its target on a basket of six greenhouse gases, to be cut by an average of 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels. The six are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. The protocol was adopted at Kyoto in Japan on 11 December 1997 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and came into force on 16 February 2005; its first commitment period ran from 2008 to 2012 and bound the industrialised countries listed in Annex I. B, C and D are wrong because they overstate the basket: only six gases were covered in the first period, and nitrogen trifluoride was added as a seventh gas later, through the Doha Amendment for the second commitment period. Exam tip: fix the numbers together, six gases, 5.2 per cent, base year 1990 and the period 2008 to 2012.

The correct answer is B, Haryali. Haryali is a centrally sponsored watershed development project launched in 2003 by the Ministry of Rural Development, and its whole point is that the village panchayat plans and carries out the work itself. Under it gram panchayats build check dams, farm ponds, percolation tanks and contour bunds so that rain is held where it falls; wells recharge, and dryland farmers get water for a second crop. The watershed committee is chosen by the gram sabha, and the villagers share part of the cost and the upkeep of the structures. A is wrong because the Arvary Pani Sansad is a people's parliament of villages on the Arvari river in Alwar, Rajasthan, a community effort and not a central scheme. C is wrong because Jal Kranti Abhiyan was a later water awareness campaign of the water resources ministry. D is wrong because Neeru-Meeru was a state water conservation programme of Andhra Pradesh. Exam tip: Haryali 2003, central and panchayat-led; Neeru-Meeru is Andhra Pradesh; Arvari Pani Sansad is Rajasthan.

The correct answer is A, 1 only. The National Green Tribunal Act rests on the right to a healthy environment read into the right to life, so only the first provision is in point. The Supreme Court has held in a line of cases, from Subhash Kumar onward, that Article 21 includes the right to a clean environment, and the Act of 2010 was passed to give that right a forum of its own. It set up a tribunal with judicial and expert members which decides civil cases on environmental laws within six months, and it drew on the Stockholm and Rio declarations, to which India was a party. Statement 2 is wrong because Article 275(1) provides grants in aid for the administration of Scheduled Areas and has nothing to do with the tribunal. Statement 3 is wrong because Article 243A concerns the powers of the Gram Sabha under the panchayat provisions. B, C and D are wrong because each of them takes in one of these two irrelevant articles. Exam tip: NGT Act 2010, Article 21, five benches with the principal bench at Delhi.

The correct answer is B. Mulching means covering the bare soil between plants with a layer of organic matter such as straw, dry leaves, husk or grass clippings. The cover shades the ground, so less water evaporates and the soil stays moist and cool, and it also softens the blow of falling rain, which would otherwise loosen the topsoil and wash it away. As the mulch rots it adds humus to the field, and by cutting off light it keeps weeds down. Farmers use it widely in orchards and vegetable plots, and in dry regions it is one of the cheapest ways to hold moisture. A is wrong because raising barriers of stone, grass and soil along the contours is contour barrier work. C is wrong because growing different crops in alternate rows is strip cropping. D is wrong because piling up rocks to slow the flow of water describes a rock dam. Exam tip: mulching covers the soil, strip cropping alternates rows, terracing cuts steps into a hillside.

The correct answer is A, the Gulf of Khambhat and the Gulf of Kachchh. Both are long, narrowing inlets on the coast of Gujarat, and such a shape funnels the incoming tide so that the difference between high and low water is large, which is exactly what a tidal power scheme needs; the Sundarbans coast is the other site usually named. Option B is wrong because the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka is shallow and its tidal range is small. Option C is wrong because the Andaman Sea is associated with rich marine biodiversity and with the seismic activity of the island arc rather than with a large tidal range. Option D is wrong because the sea around Lakshadweep is being studied for ocean thermal energy, which uses the temperature difference between surface and deep water, not the tide.

The correct answer is C, SDG 6. Sustainable Development Goal 6 is clean water and sanitation, and its aim is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. The seventeen goals were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and they took over from the Millennium Development Goals. Goal 6 covers safe drinking water, toilets and an end to open defecation, better treatment of waste water, efficient use of water in farming and industry, and the protection of rivers, lakes and groundwater. A is wrong because SDG 4 is quality education. B is wrong because SDG 7 is affordable and clean energy. D is wrong because SDG 5 is gender equality. Exam tip: SDG 4 education, SDG 5 gender equality, SDG 6 clean water and sanitation, SDG 7 clean energy; the seventeen goals were adopted in 2015 with 2030 as the target year.

The correct answer is B, zooxanthellae. These single-celled algae live within the tissue of the coral polyp, photosynthesise, hand most of the food they make to the polyp and give the reef its colour; the polyp in return offers shelter and nutrients, a textbook case of symbiosis. When heat stress makes the polyp expel them the reef turns white, which is coral bleaching. Option A is wrong because diatoms are free-floating algae with silica walls, an important part of marine plankton but not reef symbionts. Option C is wrong because Sargassum is a large brown seaweed that floats in mats, best known from the Sargasso Sea. Option D is wrong because Chlorella is a green alga of fresh water, grown for food supplements and used in laboratory work. Bleaching questions always begin from this partnership, so fix the name firmly.

The correct answer is C, Garhwal Himalayas. The Chipko movement began in 1973 in the Garhwal Himalayas, in Chamoli district of what is now Uttarakhand, when villagers hugged trees to stop contractors from felling them. Its name comes from the Hindi word chipko, to cling. Chandi Prasad Bhatt led the first protest at Mandal village, Gaura Devi led the women of Reni village in 1974, and Sunderlal Bahuguna carried the message across the hills with the slogan that the soil, water and pure air are the real produce of a forest. The movement led to a fifteen-year ban on green felling above 1,000 metres in the Himalayan forests of Uttar Pradesh in 1980. Option A is wrong because Patna in Bihar has no link with it. Option B is wrong because Thrissur is in Kerala, far from the movement. Option D is wrong because Jammu was never its centre. Exam tip: Chipko 1973, Garhwal; Appiko 1983, Karnataka.

The correct answer is B, Tiger. Project Tiger was launched in 1973, the year after the Wildlife (Protection) Act came into force, and it was the first species recovery project of its kind in India. It began with a small group of reserves, Jim Corbett among them, and works on the principle of a strictly protected core area surrounded by a buffer in which regulated use is allowed. Option A is wrong because Gir is the forest in Gujarat that shelters the Asiatic lion and is a national park, not the name of a national project. Option C is wrong because the rhino programme, aimed at the greater one-horned rhinoceros of Assam and Bengal, came much later than 1973. Option D is wrong because the hangul, the Kashmir stag of Dachigam, has its own state level recovery effort and was never the first national project.

The correct answer is B, Pinjore. India's first vulture breeding centre, the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, was set up at Pinjore in the Panchkula district of Haryana in 2001. It was started because the population of white-backed, long-billed and slender-billed vultures had crashed by more than ninety per cent in the 1990s. The cause was diclofenac, a painkiller given to cattle, which caused kidney failure in vultures that fed on the carcasses; its veterinary use was banned in India in 2006. The centre breeds these three critically endangered species in captivity and releases them into the wild. Option A is wrong because Pushkar in Rajasthan is known for its lake and the Brahma temple. Option C is wrong because Rampur in Uttar Pradesh has no such centre, though a vulture centre works at Rani in Assam. Option D is wrong because Agra is known for the Taj Mahal and a bear rescue facility. Exam tip: Pinjore in Haryana for vultures, and diclofenac as the reason for their decline.

The correct answer is C, vegetable peel. Biodegradable waste is waste that bacteria and fungi can break down into simpler substances within a short time, and kitchen waste such as vegetable peel is the classic example; it is exactly the wet fraction that Indian cities compost or send to a biogas digester. Option A is wrong because thermocol is expanded polystyrene, a plastic that microbes cannot digest, which is why it was included among the banned single-use items. Option B is wrong because aluminium foil is a metal; it does not rot, though it can be melted and recycled again and again. Option D is wrong because a polythene bag is a plastic that only fragments into smaller pieces and finally into microplastics, and may survive in soil and water for generations. The rule to carry into the exam hall is simple: anything that once lived, such as food, paper, cotton, leaves or dung, is biodegradable, while plastic, glass, metal and thermocol are not.

The correct answer is B, 5th June. The United Nations General Assembly named 5 June as World Environment Day in 1972, and the day has been observed every year since 1974. The date recalls the opening day of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm from 5 to 16 June 1972, the first big world meeting on the environment. The same conference led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme, or UNEP, which leads the celebrations each year. Every year the day has a new theme and a host country; India hosted it in 2018 with the theme 'Beat Plastic Pollution'. A is wrong because May's main environment date is 22 May, the International Day for Biological Diversity. C is wrong because July has World Population Day on 11 July, not World Environment Day. D is wrong because 5 August is not linked with this day at all. Exam tip: 22 April, Earth Day; 22 May, Biodiversity Day; 5 June, World Environment Day; 16 September, World Ozone Day.

The correct answer is B, 2 only. The second statement describes the two bodies correctly while the first gets the origin of the Board wrong, so only statement 2 can be accepted. The National Green Tribunal is a specialised court set up by the National Green Tribunal Act of 2010 to decide disputes under the environmental laws quickly, and it does take such cases away from the ordinary courts. The Central Pollution Control Board works on the quality of air and water, promoting the cleanliness of streams and wells, laying down standards and running the national monitoring network. Statement 1 is wrong because the Board was also created by a statute, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974, and not by an executive order; the Air Act of 1981 later added to its work. A and C are wrong because each accepts statement 1. D is wrong because statement 2 is sound. Exam tip: CPCB 1974 under the Water Act, NGT 2010 under its own Act.

The correct answer is C, Polythene bag. Polythene is a synthetic plastic that bacteria and fungi cannot break down, so it is non-biodegradable. A plastic bag can stay in soil or water for hundreds of years. Biodegradable waste is anything that decomposers can break down into simple, harmless substances, and it usually comes from plants or animals. Plastic bags choke drains and cause waterlogging, are swallowed by cattle and sea animals, and give off toxic gases when burnt, which is why their use must be reduced and the bags reused and recycled rather than thrown away. Waste is best kept in two bins: wet (biodegradable) and dry (non-biodegradable). A is wrong because vegetable peels rot within days and make good compost. B is wrong because dead leaves decay into humus that enriches the soil. D is wrong because a rotting fruit is already being broken down by microbes. Exam tip: if microbes can eat it, it is biodegradable; plastic, glass, metal cans and DDT are not.

The correct answer is B, 2008. The plan set out eight missions covering solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, water, the Himalayan ecosystem, a green India, sustainable agriculture and strategic knowledge for climate change, and every later programme in this field refers back to it. Option A is wrong because 2005 is the base year used for India's emissions intensity target rather than the year of the plan, and the two are easy to confuse. Option C is wrong because 2012 is the year the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ended. Option D is wrong because 2016 is the year the Paris Agreement entered into force, and India ratified it that year; the national plan is eight years older and is a domestic document rather than an international one.

The correct answer is C, It is a community based rain water harvesting system. A johad is a small crescent-shaped earthen dam that villagers build together to catch and store rainwater. It is used mainly in Rajasthan and Haryana, where rain is scarce and falls in only a few months of the year. The water held behind the bund is used for cattle and farming, and much of it soaks into the ground, refilling wells and raising the water table. In Alwar district of Rajasthan, villagers working with the Tarun Bharat Sangh built many johads, and the Arvari river, which had dried up, began to flow again. A is wrong because a johad does not pump groundwater; it helps to recharge it. B is wrong because it collects rainwater running off the land, not water drawn from rivers. D is wrong because a johad is a storage structure, not a water filter. Exam tip: johad, Rajasthan and Haryana; kul, western Himalayas; bamboo drip irrigation, Meghalaya; zing, Ladakh.

The correct answer is C, the Gulf of Khambhat. Its water is muddy, its tidal range is among the highest in the country and several rivers empty into it, so the clear, silt-free conditions that corals need are absent; it is known instead for tidal energy potential. Option A is wrong because the Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat carries fringing reefs and a marine national park, the first of its kind in India. Option B is wrong because the Gulf of Mannar between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka has a chain of reef-bearing islands and was declared the country's first marine biosphere reserve. Option D is wrong because Lakshadweep is built of atolls, the ring-shaped reefs of the Arabian Sea, and is the classic Indian example of that reef type. The fourth true reef area, not listed here, is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The correct answer is B, Switzerland. The International Union for Conservation of Nature was founded in 1948 and works from Gland, a town in Switzerland near Geneva, where several environmental bodies have their offices. It began the Red List of Threatened Species in 1964 and remains its keeper. Option A is wrong because India is a member state of the union and hosts its country office, but the world headquarters was never here. Option C is wrong because Nairobi in Kenya is the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme, a different body that candidates often confuse with the IUCN. Option D is wrong because no principal organ of the IUCN sits in the United States; Washington is remembered in this topic for the signing of CITES in 1973, not for the union itself.

The correct answer is A, yellow. The yellow category covers human and animal anatomical waste, soiled waste such as dressings and cotton contaminated with blood, expired medicines and chemical waste, and this material is destroyed by incineration, plasma pyrolysis or deep burial; nothing from the yellow bin is recycled. Option B is wrong because the red bin takes contaminated recyclable plastic, such as tubing, catheters, urine bags, intravenous sets and syringes without needles, which is autoclaved or microwaved and then shredded for recycling. Option C is wrong because the blue category is meant for broken glassware, glass vials and metallic body implants, which are disinfected, washed and recycled. Option D is wrong because white, translucent, puncture-proof containers are reserved for sharps, that is, needles, scalpels and blades. Examiners usually set this as a match-the-pair question, so remember the four colours as one set.

The correct answer is C, twenty-five megawatts. Projects of this size and below fall under the small hydro programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, while larger schemes are handled as conventional hydro power by the Ministry of Power. Option A is wrong because five megawatts marks the boundary of what is often called mini hydro within the small hydro family, not the outer limit of the category. Option B is wrong for a similar reason: ten megawatts is the limit used in several other countries and in some international definitions, which is why it appears as a distractor. Option D is wrong because a hundred megawatt project is a full-sized hydro station with a substantial reservoir or diversion works and is never treated as small hydro anywhere.