Environment & Ecology Mixed Quiz: Set 9

The correct answer is B, listed wetlands whose ecological character is threatened or changing. The Montreux Record names sites already on the Ramsar list where the ecological character has changed, is changing or is likely to change because of pollution, drainage, encroachment or other human interference. A site is entered at the request of the country concerned and is taken off once the problem has been addressed.

Option A is wrong because new designations simply go on the List of Wetlands of International Importance and carry no adverse implication. Option C states the opposite of the record's purpose, although a restored site is indeed removed from it, as Chilika was in 2002 after its mouth to the sea was reopened. Option D is wrong because the convention protects wetland habitats rather than keeping a species register. The Indian sites currently on the record are Keoladeo National Park and Loktak Lake, both entered in 1990.

The correct answer is C, methane and carbon dioxide. Biogas is produced when cattle dung, crop waste and sewage are broken down by bacteria in a closed tank without air, a process called anaerobic digestion. The gas that collects is about 55 to 70 per cent methane and most of the rest is carbon dioxide, with small traces of hydrogen sulphide and water vapour. Methane is the part that burns, which is why biogas gives a clean blue flame and is used for cooking and lighting in villages; the slurry left behind is a good manure. A gobar gas plant thus turns waste into fuel and fertiliser at the same time. A is wrong because hydrogen is not a major part of biogas. B is wrong because helium is an inert gas that no bacteria produce. D is wrong because nitrogen is present only in traces and does not burn. Exam tip: biogas is mainly methane with carbon dioxide, made by anaerobic digestion, and its slurry is used as manure.

The correct answer is A, 29 July. The day was agreed upon at the tiger summit held at St Petersburg in 2010, where the thirteen tiger range countries adopted the goal of doubling the number of wild tigers, and it is marked every year to draw attention to the conservation of the species.

Option B, 12 August, is World Elephant Day, the pairing that this topic always tests. Option C, 5 June, is World Environment Day, marked since the Stockholm Conference of 1972. Option D, 3 March, is World Wildlife Day, chosen because the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species was signed on that date in 1973. All four are days worth remembering together, since a single question often mixes them, and the safest way is to tie each date to the event behind it rather than to learn the list by rote.

The correct answer is A, Carbon captured by oceans and coastal ecosystems. Blue carbon is the carbon stored by marine and coastal ecosystems, especially mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows. These plants take in carbon dioxide, and because their waterlogged soils have little oxygen, dead matter decays slowly and the carbon stays locked in the sediment for hundreds or even thousands of years. Area for area, they can store several times more carbon than tropical forests, which is why protecting the Sundarbans and India's seagrass beds counts as climate action. When these habitats are cleared, the stored carbon goes back into the air. Option B is wrong because carbon held in forest biomass and farm soils is called green carbon. Option C is wrong because carbon in petroleum and natural gas is fossil carbon, which is released as carbon dioxide when burnt. Option D is wrong because carbon dioxide in the air is simply atmospheric carbon, not stored carbon. Exam tip: blue carbon means coasts and oceans, green carbon means forests and soils.

The correct answer is A, global warming. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas: it lets in the short wave radiation of the sun but absorbs a part of the long wave infrared radiation that the warmed earth sends back, and radiates it downwards again. As its concentration rises with the burning of coal, oil and gas and with deforestation, more heat is held in the lower atmosphere and the average surface temperature of the earth rises. That rise is global warming, and it is the central driver of present day climate change.

Option B, air pressure, depends on temperature, altitude and the mass of air above a place, not on the share of a trace gas. Option C, conservation, is the protection and wise use of resources and is a human activity, not a consequence. Option D, rains, may change in pattern as the climate warms, but that is an indirect effect rather than the direct result asked for here.

The correct answer is D, 29th July. International Tiger Day, also called Global Tiger Day, is observed every year on 29 July. It was started in 2010 at the Tiger Summit held in St Petersburg, Russia, where the thirteen tiger-range countries promised to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. The day spreads awareness about the loss of tiger habitat and poaching. India is home to about three-fourths of the world's wild tigers; it launched Project Tiger on 1 April 1973 from Jim Corbett National Park, and the National Tiger Conservation Authority was set up in 2005. The tiger is India's national animal and the results of the tiger census are usually released around this day. A is wrong because 12 May is International Nurses Day, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. B is wrong because 10 January is World Hindi Day. C is wrong because 5 November is World Tsunami Awareness Day. Exam tip: 29 July Tiger Day (St Petersburg 2010); Project Tiger 1973; 12 August is World Elephant Day.

The correct answer is D, wetland conservation. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar and came into force in 1975. It is the only global environmental treaty devoted to a single type of ecosystem, and parties designate wetlands of international importance for the Ramsar List and undertake to maintain their ecological character. The second of February is observed as World Wetlands Day.

Option A, climate change, is the subject of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 and the protocols under it. Option B, pesticide pollution, comes closest to the Rotterdam Convention of 1998 on prior informed consent and the Stockholm Convention of 2001 on persistent organic pollutants. Option C, ozone layer depletion, belongs to the Vienna Convention of 1985 and the Montreal Protocol of 1987.

The correct answer is A, Refuse. The 3 R's of waste management are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle; Refuse is not one of them. Reduce means creating less waste in the first place, such as buying fewer packaged goods and switching off lights to save power. Reuse means using a thing again, like refilling a bottle or turning old clothes into bags. Recycle means sending waste such as paper, glass, metal and plastic to be made into new products. NCERT gives the three in this order, and the order matters: reducing is the best option and recycling the last resort because it still uses energy. Some newer lists add Refuse and Repurpose to make 5 R's, but the paper asks about the 3 R's. B is wrong because recycling is one of the three. C is wrong because reducing is the first R. D is wrong because reuse is the second R. Exam tip: 3 R's = Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in that order of preference.

The correct answer is D, 2010. The National Green Tribunal was set up on 18 October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. It is a special court for cases about environmental protection, forests and other natural resources, and it is required to dispose of an application within six months. India was the third country in the world, after Australia and New Zealand, to create such a body. Its principal bench sits in New Delhi, with zonal benches at Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai, and it is headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. Option A is wrong because 2007 is the year the Tribunal was first proposed, not created. Option B is wrong because 2008 saw no such law. Option C is wrong because 2009 is the year the Ministry of Environment moved the bill, which became law only in 2010. Exam tip: NGT Act 2010, tribunal from 18 October 2010, principal bench New Delhi.

The correct answer is D, Blue Flag. In 2018 the Union Environment Ministry started a pilot project to clean up and develop selected beaches so that they could win the Blue Flag. The Blue Flag is an international eco-label given by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), based in Copenhagen, Denmark; it began in France in 1985. A beach must meet strict standards on water quality, environmental education, safety and services, and environmental management. India's programme for this is called BEAMS (Beach Environment and Aesthetics Management Services), and in 2020 Shivrajpur in Gujarat was among the first Indian beaches to receive the Blue Flag. A is wrong because Swachh Bharat is the national sanitation mission started in 2014, not a beach label. B is wrong because the Green Flag is a different award, used in the UK for well-kept parks and green spaces. C is wrong because Clean India is only the English name of the Swachh Bharat campaign. Exam tip: Blue Flag = beach eco-label by FEE, Denmark; India's scheme = BEAMS; the first eight Indian Blue Flag beaches were certified in 2020.

The correct answer is C, Glacier. A glacier is a natural mass of moving ice and a source of fresh water, not a pollutant.

A water pollutant is any substance added to water that makes it unfit for use. Pollutants are grouped as physical, such as silt, heat and colour; chemical, such as heavy metals, fertilisers, pesticides and detergents; and biological, such as bacteria and viruses from sewage. Glaciers in the Himalayas feed the Ganga, Yamuna and Brahmaputra, so they supply water rather than spoil it.

A is wrong as a choice because chromium is a heavy metal discharged by tanneries and electroplating units and causes serious harm. B is wrong because silt, washed in by erosion, raises turbidity, cuts light for aquatic plants and is treated as a physical pollutant. D is wrong because arsenic in groundwater, a known problem in West Bengal and Bihar, causes arsenicosis and skin cancer.

Exam tip: Physical pollutants - silt and heat; chemical - chromium, arsenic, fluoride; biological - pathogens from sewage.

The correct answer is A, 1 only. Statement 1 is true and statement 2 is false. Race to Zero is a global campaign backed by the United Nations and launched in 2020, ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. It rallies businesses, cities, regions, investors and universities to take rigorous action to halve global emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, in line with the Paris Agreement aim of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Building momentum for a shift to a decarbonised economy is exactly its aim, so statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: the zero in the name means net-zero carbon emissions, not a zero-sum game, where one side's gain equals the other side's loss; climate action is meant to benefit everyone. B is wrong, because statement 2 is the false one. C is wrong, because it accepts the false zero-sum statement. D is wrong, because statement 1 correctly describes the campaign. Exam tip: Race to Zero, UN-backed, 2020, halve emissions by 2030, net zero by 2050.

The correct answer is B, Chlorofluorocarbons. CFCs release chlorine in the stratosphere, and that chlorine destroys ozone.

CFCs were used as refrigerants, in aerosol sprays and in foam. They are stable near the ground, so they drift up to the stratosphere, where ultraviolet light breaks them and frees chlorine atoms. One chlorine atom can destroy thousands of ozone molecules in a chain reaction, which is how the ozone hole over Antarctica formed. The Montreal Protocol of 1987 phased CFCs out, and 16 September is observed as World Ozone Day.

Option A, polyvinylchloride, is a plastic and a waste problem, but it does not reach the stratosphere. Option C, biopolymer, means a natural polymer such as cellulose or starch and is harmless to ozone. Option D, methanol, is an alcohol used as a fuel and solvent and has no role in ozone loss.

Exam tip: ozone killers are CFCs, halons and carbon tetrachloride; the Montreal Protocol, 1987, controls them.

The correct answer is B, greenhouse gases emission. The Kyoto Protocol, adopted at Kyoto, Japan on 11 December 1997 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was the first treaty to set binding targets for cutting emissions. It came into force on 16 February 2005 and asked industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of about 5 per cent below 1990 levels during 2008 to 2012. It covered six gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and created market tools such as the Clean Development Mechanism, which let projects in countries like India earn carbon credits. India ratified it in 2002 but, as a developing country, had no binding target. A is wrong, because cutting poverty is the aim of goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, not Kyoto. C is wrong, because nuclear arms are dealt with by treaties like the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968. D is wrong, because farm subsidies fall under the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture. Exam tip: Kyoto 1997, in force 2005, binding cuts for rich nations; Paris 2015, pledges from all nations.

The correct answer is A, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd. RRECL, with its office in Jaipur, is the state nodal agency of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for developing power from non-conventional sources in Rajasthan. It promotes solar, wind, biomass and small hydro projects and develops the state's solar parks. The strong, steady sunshine of the Thar region and the wind corridor around Jaisalmer make Rajasthan one of the country's main sources of renewable power. Option B, the Rajasthan State Electricity Board, was the old integrated utility and was unbundled in 2000 into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies, so it is not the nodal agency. Option C is not a real body. Option D, Jaipur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd., is one of the state's three discoms and only distributes power to consumers in its region. Exam tip: every state has one MNRE nodal agency for renewable energy — in Rajasthan it is RRECL.

The correct answer is C, 1986. Parliament passed the Environment (Protection) Act in 1986 and it came into force on 19 November 1986. It was enacted soon after the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984, when the country needed one general law to fill the gaps left by the earlier pollution laws. Parliament used Article 253, which allows it to legislate to carry out international agreements, so the Act gives effect to the decisions of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. It is called an umbrella law because it gives the Central Government wide powers to fix standards, inspect and shut polluting units and frame rules, and most later environmental rules are made under it. A is wrong because no such central environment Act was passed in 1990. B is wrong because 1991 is the year of the Public Liability Insurance Act. D is wrong because 1988 only brought amendments to the Water Act. Exam tip: Water Act 1974, Air Act 1981, Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

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 C, the largest inland saline wetland in India. Sambhar Lake lies west of Jaipur in Rajasthan, has no outlet to the sea and loses water only by evaporation, so salts brought in by seasonal streams accumulate in it. It has been worked for common salt for centuries and is an important wintering ground for flamingos and other waterbirds, and it was designated a Ramsar site in 1990.

Option A describes Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir, the largest freshwater lake in India, also a Ramsar site. Option B describes Chilika Lake in Odisha, the largest brackish water lagoon in the country and one of the first two Indian Ramsar sites. Option D points to the high altitude wetlands of Ladakh such as Tsomoriri and Tso Kar, which are notable for their elevation rather than their size. Fix one superlative to each lake, because papers ask them as a matching set.

The correct answer is A, New Delhi. The Global Tiger Forum was formed in the nineteen nineties as an international body of tiger range countries and others working for the conservation of the species, and its secretariat is in New Delhi, which reflects the share of the world's wild tigers that India holds.

Option B, Kathmandu, is the headquarters of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, not of the Forum. Option C, Geneva, houses the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, among many other international bodies. Option D, Gland in Switzerland, is the headquarters of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which publishes the Red List, and of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The correct answer is B, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. The two bodies set up the panel in 1988 so that governments would have a single authoritative summary of what science says about climate change. The panel does not carry out research or monitoring of its own; it reviews published scientific literature and publishes assessment reports and special reports, whose summaries for policymakers are approved line by line by member governments.

Option A names the education and agriculture agencies of the United Nations, which have no such role. Option C names financial institutions that fund climate projects but did not create the panel. Option D names the health and development agencies. The IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore, a fact often asked alongside this one.