Environment & Biodiversity MCQs

Notes:
Agenda 21 is yet another outcome of the 1992 Earth Summit. It is the “Voluntary” action plan of the United Nations (UN) related to sustainable development. This 40 point document was a comprehensive blueprint of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the UN, governments, and major groups in every area in which humans directly affect the environment.

Notes:
The transition zone where two communities or biomes meet and intergrade is called an ecotone. Ecotone may vary in range starting from small agricultural field to large forest.  

Notes:
The number of individuals at each tropic level in grassland ecosystem decreases and hence the pyramid of number is upright.

Notes:
The hydrologic cycle begins with the evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean. As moist air is lifted, it cools and water vapour condenses to form clouds. Moisture is transported around the globe until it returns to the surface as precipitation. Once the water reaches the ground, one of two processes may occur; 1) some of the water may evaporate back into the atmosphere or 2) the water may penetrate the surface and become groundwater. Groundwater either seeps its way to into the oceans, rivers, and streams, or is released back into the atmosphere through transpiration. The balance of water that remains on the earth’s surface is runoff, which empties into lakes, rivers and streams and is carried back to the oceans, where the cycle begins again.

Notes:
It has been recognized for several decades that the release of chlorofluorocarbons and other atmospheric pollutants depletes stratospheric ozone, which in turn increases human exposure to ultraviolet radiation, causing skin cancer and cataracts.

Notes:
The UN report titled “IPBES Global Assessment” has been released by IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). It is compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries. The IPBES report found that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history. The threatened list includes more than 40% of amphibian species, almost 33% of reef-forming corals, and more than a third of all marine mammals. The study is a cornerstone of an emerging body of research that suggests the world may need to embrace a new post-growth form of economics if it is to avert the existential risks posed by the mutually-reinforcing consequences of pollution, habitat destruction and carbon emissions. The report tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global. The headquarters of IBPES is located in Bonn, Germany.

Notes:
India’s only orangutan, ‘Binny’, has passed away at the age of 41 at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha. The great ape was brought to the Odisha zoo in November 2003 from Pune’s Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park on November 20, 2003, when she was 25. Orangutans are one of the world’s three extant species of great apes. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there are three species of orangutans — Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli. Bornean and Sumatran orangutans differ a little in appearance and behaviour. All three kinds of orangutans are listed as “Critically Endangered” by the United Nations-affiliated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia and at present are found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. The WWF states that orangutans, with distinctive red fur, are the largest arboreal mammal, spending most of their time in trees.They are considered to be among the most intelligent primates. They can live up to 45 years in the wild and even more in zoos.

Notes:
A combination selected from the following processes is used for municipal drinking water treatment worldwide:
• Pre-chlorination for algae control and arresting biological growth
• Aeration along with pre-chlorination for removal of dissolved iron when present with small amounts relatively of manganese

Notes:
Climatically, tea belongs to the monsoon lands where high temperatures, long growing season and heavy rainfall help the growth of tea plants. A temperature of 21°C during the growing season of not less than eight months is ideal and a rainfall of 200 cm is best suitable.

Notes:
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Corals species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical. Although some corals are able to catch small fish and plankton using stinging cells.