Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Miraj, a town in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, famed for crafting sitars and tanpuras, earns Geographical Indication (GI) tags. These instruments are highly sought after by classical musicians and film industry professionals. Craftsmanship from Miraj is renowned, with artisans claiming their instruments are favored by prominent artists for their quality and sound.

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The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), established in 2015, supports companies in setting Science-Based Targets (SBTs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. A recent decision allowing carbon offsetting for Scope 3 emissions has sparked controversy. SBTi verifies targets independently, ensuring alignment with the latest climate science. It distinguishes between near- and long-term goals, essential for significant progress by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

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Recently discovered in the Laccadive Sea near India’s southwest coast, three new fish species—Jansen’s, checkerboard, and moon—are capable of using tools. They utilize live or dead coral structures as anvils to crack open sea urchin shells for food, showcasing specialized behaviors. This behavior challenges the perception of fish intelligence. The Laccadive Sea, also known as the Lakshadweep Sea, borders India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, encompassing 303,476 square miles within the Indian Ocean.

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Recent lava from La Cumbre volcano on Fernandina Island, Galápagos, devastates the habitat of rare land iguanas. Positioned atop the mantle plume generating Galápagos, it erupted for the first time since 2020. The island, 1,125 km off Ecuador’s mainland, boasts a large caldera hosting a permanent lake, attracting diverse wildlife, including tens of thousands of Galápagos land iguanas nesting within it.

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Red colobus monkeys, belonging to genus Procolobus, inhabit African Savanna across West, Central, and East Africa. The Savanna’s diverse habitat offers ample trees and food sources like leaves and fruits. They serve as seed dispersers and prey for predators. Living in social groups, they exhibit striking features with reddish-brown fur. This species plays a vital ecological role in their habitat, vital for maintaining the balance in their ecosystem.

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The Maharashtra forest department plans to move tigers from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, located in the Western Ghats. Formed in 2010, it includes Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary. The reserve boasts unique undulating terrain with steep escarpments and barren rocky plateaus known as “Sadas.” It hosts abundant climax and near-climax vegetation, with minimal human impact anticipated.

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Indonesia’s Ibu volcano, located on Halmahera island in the Maluku Islands, erupted, sending ash 5 km high. The country’s volcanology agency issued a warning. Ibu is a stratovolcano known for its steep slopes and explosive eruptions. It stands approximately 1,325 meters tall with a base diameter of 10 kilometers. Situated in Indonesia’s eastern region, Halmahera is the largest island in the Maluku archipelago.

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A red panda was recently sighted in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh. This herbivore species uses its bushy tail for balance and warmth. It’s shy, arboreal, and an ecological indicator. Resembling a house cat, it inhabits mountainous forests across Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal, with half its habitat in the Eastern Himalayas. Threatened by habitat loss, it’s classified as Endangered by IUCN, listed on CITES Appendix I, and protected under India’s Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Notes:
A recent mass fish kill devastated the Periyar River in Kerala, causing widespread destruction and outrage. The Periyar River, Kerala’s longest, originates in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and flows northward, passing through the Periyar National Park into the man-made Periyar Lake. It eventually joins the Vembanad Lake before reaching the Arabian Sea. The river, spanning 244 km, sustains a vast area and is vital for Kerala’s economy, notably with the Idukki Dam, the state’s largest hydroelectric project.

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A team of botanists at Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, discovered a new algal species, Oedocladium sahyadricum, in the Western Ghats. Named after the Sahyadri region, it is dioecious, terrestrial, and mat-forming on damp soil. The alga, velvety green turning yellowish-green when mature, has potential applications in medicine, agriculture, and natural pigment production. This is Kerala’s first recorded species of Oedocladium.