60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019 – Environment and Current Affairs (Day 18)

The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of different gases. Specifically, it is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Hence statement 1 is correct.

The larger the GWP, the more that a given gas warms the Earth compared to CO2 over that time period. The time period usually used for GWPs is 100 years.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

According to IPCC 5TH Assessment Report, GWP of Sulfur Hexafluoride is 23500 times that of CO2. GWP of Hydro fluorocarbons is around 13000 times that of CO2.  

Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, an area must meet two strict criteria:

1. Contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants found nowhere else on Earth (known as “endemic” species).
2. Have lost at least 70 percent of its primary native vegetation.

Hence Statement 2 is correct and statement 3 is incorrect.

There are currently 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots. Out of these 4 are in India.

1. Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar)
2. Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and southern China)
3. Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines)
4. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats (and Sri Lanka)

In order to strengthen the implementation of environmentally sound management of hazardous waste in the country, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has amended the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.

Some of the salient features of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management& Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2019 are as follows:

1. Solid plastic waste has been prohibited from import into the country including in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU).  

Hence statement 1 is wrong.

1. Exporters of silk waste have now been given exemption from requiring permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

1. Electrical and electronic assemblies and components manufactured in and exported from India, if found defective can now be imported back into the country, within a year of export, without obtaining permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
2. Industries which do not require consent under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, are now exempted from requiring authorization also under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, provided that hazardous and other wastes generated by such industries are handed over to the authorized actual users, waste collectors or disposal facilities.

A time bound national level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner in the form of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched.

The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

The programme may be further extended to a longer time horizon after a mid-term review of the outcomes.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

The NCAP will be institutionalized by respective ministries and will be organized through inter-sectoral groups, which include, Ministry of Road Transport and Highway, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, NITI Aayog, CPCB, experts from the industry, academia, and civil society.

City specific action plans are being formulated for 102 non-attainment cities identified for implementing mitigation actions under NCAP.

Institutional Framework at Centre and State Level comprising of Apex Committee at the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change in the Centre and at Chief Secretary Level in the States are to be constituted.

In addition, sectoral working groups, national level Project Monitoring Unit, Project Implementation Unit, state level project monitoring unit, city level review committee under the Municipal Commissioner and DM level Committee in the Districts are to be constituted under NCAP for effective implementation and success of the Programme.

WHO is not the implementing agency.

Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

NCAP is not a part of NAPCC. So, statement 4 is incorrect.

“Keep Cool and Carry on” is the theme of this year’s (2018) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. It celebrates the progress in protecting the ozone layer and moves to phase out ozone depleting chemicals which are also potent greenhouse gases.

The theme for International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2018  is “Caring for all life under the Sun”.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (World Ozone Day) is celebrated on September 16 every year. This event commemorates the date of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is legally binding and will come into force from January 1, 2019.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

The Agreement upholds the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR & RC). It recognizes the development imperatives of high-growth economies like India, and provides a realistic and viable roadmap for the implementation of a phase-out schedule for high global warming potential (GWP) HFCs.

Hence statement 2 and 3 are correct.

Additional information:

The Agreement upholds the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR & RC). It recognizes the development imperatives of high-growth economies like India, and provides a realistic and viable roadmap for the implementation of a phase-out schedule for high global warming potential (GWP) HFCs.

On October 15, 2016, with the United States’ leadership, 197 countries adopted an amendment to phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, Rwanda. Under the amendment, countries committed to cut the production and consumption of HFCs by more than 80 percent over the next 30 years. The ambitious phase down schedule will avoid more than 80 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 2050—avoiding up to 0.5° Celsius warming by the end of the century—while continuing to protect the ozone layer.

Thoroughly go through the list of 18 Biosphere Reserves designated by India.

Out of these 11 (which are in bold letters) are a part of UNESCO designated World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). They are:

1. Nilgiri, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. (WNBR)
2. Nanda Devi, Uttarakhand. (WNBR)
3. Nokrek, Meghalaya. (WNBR)
4. Manas, Assam.
5. Sunderban, West Bengal. (WNBR)
6. Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu. (WNBR)
7. Great Nicobar, Andaman and Nicobar islands. (WNBR)
8. Similipal, Odisha. (WNBR)
9. Dibru-Saikhova, Assam.
10. Dehang-Dibang , Arunachal Pradesh.
11. Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. (WNBR)
12. Khangchendzonga, Sikkim. (WNBR)
13. Agasthyamalai, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. (WNBR)
14. Achanakmar- Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. (WNBR)
15. Kachchh , Gujarat.
16. Cold Desert, Himachal Pradesh.
17. Seshachalam , Andhra Pradesh.
18. Panna, Madhya Pradesh

WAYU is developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) as a part of Technology Development Project being funded by Department of Science and Technology.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

The device works on two principles mainly Wind generation for dilution of air pollutants and Active Pollutants removal.

The device has filters for Particulate Matter removal and activated carbon (charcoal) and UV lamps for poisonous gases removal such as VOCs and Carbon Monoxide.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

The device has one fan and filter for sucking and removing Particulate Matter. There are two UV lamps and half kg of activated carbon charcoal coated with special chemical Titanium Dioxide.

Alpha diversity refers to the average species diversity in a habitat or specific area. It is dependent on species richness and species evenness.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Beta diversity refers to ratio between local diversity and regional diversity. This is the diversity of species between two habitats or regions.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Gamma diversity is the total diversity of the landscape.

A keystone species is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. It plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community and whose impact on the community is greater than would be expected based on its relative abundance or total biomass.

Keystone species have low functional redundancy. This means that if the species were to disappear from the ecosystem, no other species would be able to fill its ecological niche. The ecosystem would be forced to radically change, allowing new and possibly invasive species to populate the habitat.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

A flagship species is a species selected to act as an ambassador, icon or symbol for a defined habitat, issue, campaign or environmental cause.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Flagship species are usually relatively large, and considered to be ‘charismatic’ in western cultures.  

Flagship species may or may not be keystone species and may or may not be good indicators of biological process.

Additional Information:

Umbrella species are often conflated with keystone species. Both terms describe a single species on which many other species depend. The key distinction between umbrella species and keystone species is that the value of an umbrella species is tied to its geographic species range.

Foundation species play a major role in creating or maintaining a habitat.

Corals are a key example of a foundation species. These tiny animals grow as a colony of thousands and even millions of individual polyps. The rocky exoskeletons of these polyps create enormous structures around islands: coral reefs.

Like foundation species, ecosystem engineers contribute to the physical geography of their habitat. Ecosystem engineers modify, create, and maintain habitats.

An indicator species describes an organism that is very sensitive to environmental changes in its ecosystem.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

Autogenic engineers modify their environment by modifying their own biology. Corals and trees are autogenic engineers. As they grow, they are a living part of the environment, providing food and shelter to other organisms.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Allogenic engineers physically change their environment from one state to another. Beavers are a classic example of allogenic engineers. Beavers help maintain woodland ecosystems by thinning out older trees and allowing young saplings to grow.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has promulgated Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy-2015, under which plantations have been initiated in collaboration with Forest Departments and other agencies.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) does not implement any scheme for plantations along the highway sides and on vacant land along railway tracks.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Additional Information:

MOEF&CC for afforestation and to increase forest cover in the country implements two Centrally Sponsored Schemes namely, National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and National Mission for a Green India (GIM). While NAP is being implemented for afforestation of degraded forest lands, GIM aims at improving the quality of forest/increase in forest cover besides cross-sectoral activities on landscape basis.  These two schemes involve local people through Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMC) at the village level in the afforestation efforts and decision making in their area of implementation.

Legally protected areas in India fall into four categories –

1. Reserved/ Designated Forest Areas declared as such under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
2. Protected Areas declared under any of the four categories of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972– National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Community Reserves and Conservation Reserves.

The difference between the Community and Conservation reserve is that the former comprises community or private land and the latter comprises government land.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

1. Biodiversity Heritage Sites notified under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
2. Wetlands identified and notified under Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.

The number of Protected Areas under Wildlife Protection Act (1972) has steadily increased over the years.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

The amount of acidity in the atmosphere that deposits to earth through dry deposition depends on the amount of rainfall an area receives.  For example, in desert areas the ratio of dry to wet deposition is higher than an area that receives several inches of rain each year.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

Normal, clean rain generally has a pH value of between 5.0 and 5.5, which is slightly acidic.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Background:

Acid rain results when sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) are emitted into the atmosphere and transported by wind and air currents.  The SO2 and NOX react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. These then mix with water and other materials before falling to the ground.

There are two forms of Acid Deposition

Wet Deposition

Wet deposition is what we most commonly think of as acid rain.  The sulfuric and nitric acids formed in the atmosphere fall to the ground mixed with rain, snow, fog, or hail.  

Dry Deposition

Acidic particles and gases can also deposit from the atmosphere in the absence of moisture as dry deposition.  The acidic particles and gases may deposit to surfaces (water bodies, vegetation, buildings) quickly or may react during atmospheric transport to form larger particles that can be harmful to human health. When the accumulated acids are washed off a surface by the next rain, this acidic water flows over and through the ground, and can harm plants and wildlife, such as insects and fish.

Bio prospecting refers to Systematic exploration, extraction and screening  of biological diversity with the purpose of developing commercially valuable products.

Contingent valuation refers to the method of valuation used in cost benefit analysis and environmental accounting.

Bio piracy or misappropriation refers to appropriating a biological resource without obtaining prior informed consent of the country providing these.

Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) have been identified and notified by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change since 1989.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Notifications declaring areas as ESAs are issued under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Western Ghats is one of the ESA’s in India.

Not all algal blooms are harmful. Most blooms, in fact, are beneficial because the tiny plants are food for animals in the ocean. In fact, they are the major source of energy that fuels the ocean food web.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

A small percentage of algae, however, produce powerful toxins that can kill fish, shellfish, mammals, and birds, and may directly or indirectly cause illness in people. HABs also include blooms of non-toxic species that have harmful effects on marine ecosystems.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Harmful Algal Blooms are generally referred to as ‘red tides,’

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Background: Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae—simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. The human illnesses caused by HABs, though rare, can be debilitating or even fatal.

Cisgenesis is the genetic modification of a recipient plant with a natural gene from a crossable, sexually compatible plant.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Transgenesis is the genetic modification of a recipient plant with one or more genes from any non-plant organism, or from a donor plant that is sexually incompatible with the recipient plant. This includes gene sequences of any origin in the anti-sense orientation, any artificial combination of a coding sequence and a regulatory sequence, such as a promoter from another gene, or a synthetic gene.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Transgenesis and Cisgenesis both use the same genetic modification techniques. (namely the introduction of one or more genes and their promoters into a plant). Cisgenesis involves only genes from the plant itself or from a close relative, and these genes could also be transferred by traditional breeding techniques.

Although originally, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 was enacted exclusively for the control of air pollution, but by Amendment Act 1987, the problem of noise was also covered within the definition of air pollutants under this Act. In this Act no specific provision for the control of noise pollution has been made.
Hence statement 1 is correct

Silence zone is referred as areas up to 100 meters around such premises as hospitals, educational institutions and courts.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

The noise standards in Silence zones are laid down as per existing rules, and should not exceed 45 decibels (dB) and 40dB during day and night, respectively.

Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 is framed by the Central Government under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 read with Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules 1986.

Hence statement 4 is correct.

Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the increased uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. (due to increased CO2 levels because of human activity)

There are two important things that happen when carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater. First, there is an increase in concentration of hydrogen ions (due to chemical reactions), because of which the pH of seawater water gets lower as it becomes more acidic. Second, this process binds up carbonate ions and makes them less abundant.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Carbonate ions that corals, oysters, mussels, and many other shelled organisms need to build shells and skeletons.

Ocean pH has been slightly basic, averaging about 8.2. Today, it is around 8.1, a drop of 0.1 pH units, representing a 25-percent increase in acidity over the past two centuries.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, is a global inter-governmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. It is the only global treaty to focus on one single ecosystem.

The Ramsar Convention is the only international treaty focused on wetlands. It provides a platform of 170 Contracting Parties working together for wetland conservation and wise use, and to develop the best available data, advice and policy recommendations to realize the benefits of fully functional wetlands to nature and society. Parties to the Convention have already committed to maintaining the ecological character of over 2,300 Wetlands of International Importance covering nearly 250million hectares, 13-18% of global wetlands.

Phumlenpat Lake – Manipur

Ameenpur Lake – Telangana

Loktak Lake – Manipur

The Hope Mars Mission also called Emirates Mars Mission, is a space exploration probe mission to Mars built by the United Arab Emirates and set for launch in 2020.

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission was developed by NASA to study the Martian atmosphere while orbiting Mars. Mission goals include determining how the planet’s atmosphere and water, presumed to have once been substantial, were lost over time.

ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is a two-part astrobiology project to search for evidence of life on Mars, a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

The Oort cloud, named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, sometimes called the Öpik–Oort cloud, is a hypothetical cloud of predominantly icy planetesimals proposed to surround the Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 AU (0.03 to 3.2 light-years). It is divided into two regions: a disc-shaped inner Oort cloud (or Hills cloud) and a spherical outer Oort cloud. Both regions lie beyond the heliosphere and in interstellar space. The Kuiper belt and the scattered disc, the other two reservoirs of trans-Neptunian objects, are less than one thousandth as far from the Sun as the Oort cloud.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/celestial-misfit/article24980187.ece

The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-engine, multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters. In 2003, the LCA was officially named “Tejas”.

Tejas has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration with a single dorsal fin. This provides better high-alpha performance characteristics than conventional wing designs. Its wing root leading edge has a sweep of 50 degrees, the outer wing leading edge has a sweep of 62.5 degrees, and trailing edge has a forward sweep of four degrees. It integrates technologies such as relaxed static stability, fly-by-wire flight control system, multi-mode radar, integrated digital avionics system and composite material structures. It is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.

It was intended to be powered by the GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri, but had to be replaced with an off-the-shelf “foreign” engine, the General Electric F404.

India, along with 23 other Indian Ocean Nations, participated in a major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise (drill) on 4th & 5th September, 2018.

The Exercise, known as IOWave18, was organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, which coordinated the setting up of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) in the aftermath of the 26 December 2004 tsunami.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=183296

Both are correct.

https://www.thehindu.com/business/bamboo-a-promising-crop-for-progressive-farmers/article24910099.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-after-the-deluge-no-home-in-hills/article24845254.ece

The project aims to transform agricultural production to generate global environmental benefits by addressing biodiversity conservation, land degradation, climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management.

http://www.fao.org/india/news/detail-events/en/c/1153806/

It uses fuel cells that produce electricity through a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, leaving behind water and steam.

Hydrogen produced via electrolysis commonly costs roughly the same as natural gas and almost double that of diesel fuel; however, unlike either of these fossil-based fuels, hydrogen propulsion produces zero emissions.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/germany-rolls-out-worlds-first-hydrogen-train/article24969856.ece

Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chief of the Naval Staff visited Rhode Island, USA on a bilateral visit from 18 to 22 September 2018 for attending the 23rd edition of the International Seapower Symposium (ISS) organised by the US Navy.

The biennial ISS was first held in 1969 in Newport and was designed to allow naval leaders from around the world to meet and discuss common issues they faced, how to address these issues, and ultimately find solutions for them.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=183539