Q 1 . India is a party to the Ramsar Convention and has declared many areas as Ramsar sites. Which of the following statements best describes as to how we should maintain these sites in the context of this convention?
(a) Keep all the sites completely inaccessible to man so that they will not be exploited.
(b) Conserve all the sites through ecosystem approach and permit tourism and recreation only.
(c) Conserve all the sites through ecosystem approach for a period without any exploitation, with specific
criteria and specific period for each site, and then allow sustainable use of them by future generations.
(d) Conserve all the sites through ecosystem approach and allow their simultaneous sustainable use.
(d) EXPLANATION : Ramsar convention describes to conserve all the sites through ecosystem approach and allow their simultaneous sustainable use.
Q 2 . What are the possible limitations of India in mitigating the global warming at present and in the immediate future?
1 . Appropriate alternate technologies are not sufficiently available.
2 . India cannot invest huge funds in research and development.
3 . Many developed countries have already set up their polluting industries in India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(a) EXPLANATION : Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth’s near-surface air and oceans by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, which result from human activity such as the burning of fossil fuel and deforestation. Climate change mitigation is action to decrease the potential effects of global warming. At present rate of mitigation is less in India because appropriate technologies are limited and costly. Moreover India don’t have huge funds required for research and development in that area.
Q 3 . Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a standard criterion for
(a) Measuring oxygen levels in blood
(b) Computing oxygen levels in forest ecosystems
(c) Pollution assay in aquatic ecosystems
(d) Assessing oxygen levels in high altitude regions
(c) EXPLANATION : The amount of oxygen required by bacteria to break down the organic matter present in a certain volume of a sample of water, is called Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). The amount of BOD in the water is a measure of the amount of organic material in the water, in terms of how much oxygen will be required to break it down biologically. Clean water would have BOD value of less than 5 ppm whereas highly polluted water could have a BOD value of 17 ppm or more.
Q 4 . In the context of solving pollution problems, what is/are the advantage/advantages of bioremediation technique?
1 . It is a technique for cleaning up pollution by enhancing the same biodegradation process that occurs in nature.
2 . Any contaminant with heavy metals such as cadmium and lead can be readily and completely treated by bioremediation using micro-organisms.
3 . Genetic engineering can be used to create microorganisms specifically designed for bioremediation.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(c) EXPLANATION : Biosparging is an in-situ bioremediation technique in which we inject the air under pressure below the water table to enhance the rate of biological degradation of contaminants by naturally occurring bacteria. But not all compounds are susceptible to rapid and complete biodegradation, and bioremediation often takes longer time than other treatment processes.
Q 5 . In the context of mitigating the impending global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration?
1 . Abandoned and uneconomic coal seams
2 . Depleted oil and gas reservoirs
3 . Subterranean deep saline formations
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(d) Carbon sequestration may be carried out by pumping carbon into carbon sinks of two types: A. Natural sinks- ocean, forest, soil etc. B. Artificial sink- depleted oil reserve, unminable mines. Deep saline formations have highest capacity for this.
Q 6 . Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”?
(a) Corbett
(b) Ranthambore
(c) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam
(d) Sunderbans
(c) EXPLANATION : Sundarban has Critical Tiger Habitat area of 1699.62 sq. Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Core/ Critical Tiger Habitat: 3721 Sq. Km
Q 7 . Which one of the following statements best describes the term ‘Social Cost of Carbon’? It is a measure, in monetary value, of the
(a) long-term damage done by a tonne of CO2 emissions in a given year.
(b) requirement of fossil fuels for a country to provide goods and services to its citizens, based on the
burning of those fuels.
(c) efforts put in by a climate refugee to adapt to live in a new place.
(d) contribution of an individual person to the carbon footprint on the planet Earth.
(a) EXPLANATION : Social cost is a concept associated with some type of negative externality. For example, Factories emit large amount of smoke from their chimneys into the atmosphere. This may not figure in the calculation of costs in their records. But the cost to the community may be in the form of additional washing bills for clothes and the money spent by the community on medical bills etc. These costs are social costs. OECD defines Social Cost of Carbon as the net present value of climate change impacts over the next 100 years (or longer) of one additional tonne of carbon emitted to the atmosphere today.
Q 8 . With reference to an organization known as ‘Birdlife International’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1 . It is a Global Partnership of Conservation Organizations.
2 . The concept of ‘biodiversity hotspots’ originated from this organization.
3 . It identifies the sites known/referred to as ‘Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas’.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(c) EXPLANATION : BirdLife international is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. It is working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. It is the World’s largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organizations. An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International.
Q 9 . In India, in which one of the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species?
(a) Tropical moist deciduous forest
(b) Tropical rain forest
(c) Tropical thorn scrub forest
(d) Temperate forest with grasslands
(a) EXPLANATION : The tropical moist deciduous forests are found in Sahyadris, the north-eastern parts of the peninsula and along the foothills of the Himalayas. Teak and sal are found in these forests.
Q 10 . Which one of the following is the best description of the term ‘ecosystem’?
(a) A community of organisms interacting with one another.
(b) That part of the Earth which is inhabited by living organisms.
(c) A community of organisms together with the environment in which they live
(d) The flora and fauna of a geographical area
(c) EXPLANATION : An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere).
