09 December Static Quiz 2021 (Environment)

Nitrogen particles make up the largest fraction of PM2.5, the class of pollutants closely linked to cardiovascular and respiratory illness. Hence statement 2 is correct.
Agriculture remains the largest contributor to nitrogen emissions, the non-agricultural emissions of nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide are growing rapidly, with sewage and fossil-fuel burning — for power, transport and industry — leading the trend. Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

Nitrous Oxide (N2O):
It is a greenhouse gas (GHG) 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).
It has the third-highest concentration, after CO2 and methane (CH4), in Earth’s atmosphere among GHGs responsible for global warming. Hence statement 1 is correct.

Wildlife laws (Wildlife Protection Act-1972) divide species into ‘schedules’ ranked from I to V. Schedule I members are the best protected, in theory, with severe punishments meted out to those who hunt them. Wild boars, nilgai and rhesus monkeys are Schedule II and III members — also protected, but can be hunted under specific conditions. Crows and fruit bat fall in Schedule 5, the vermin category. Once declared vermin, a particular species can be hunted or culled without restriction. These animals tagged as vermin, in the words of a wildlife conservationist, are ―open season‖ and could become easy game for hunters as well as traders in meat. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Section 62 of Wildlife Protection Act empowers Centre to declare wild animals other than Schedule I & II to be vermin for specified area and period. Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

Nearly all wild lions live in sub- Saharan Africa, but one small population of Asiatic lions exists in India’s Gir Forest. Asiatic lions once prowled from the Middle East to India. Now, only a fraction of these magnificent animals survive in the wild. They are found in Gir forest, not the eastern coast mangroves. Hence statement 1 is correct.

They are listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of CITES and as Endangered on IUCN Red List. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

The major threat to the Asiatic Lion population is its vulnerability to unpredictable events such as a plague or a natural disaster. There have also been few incidents of poaching reported as well. Additional threats are from the villages around the Gir National Park when the locals kill the lions in retaliation for attacks on livestock. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Kyoto protocol:
International efforts have been initiated for reducing the emission of GHGs into the atmosphere. The most important one is the Kyoto protocol proclaimed in 1997.
This protocol went into effect in 2005, ratified by 141 nations.
Kyoto protocol bounds the 35 industrialised countries to reduce their emissions by the year 2012 to 5 per cent less than the levels prevalent in the year 1990.
It is legally binding
Only members of UNFCCC can become parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the 3rd session of UNFCCC

Temperate Deciduous Biome (North-Western Europe – British Type Climate)
Soils of temperate forests are podzolic and fairly deep.
The natural vegetation of this climatic type is deciduous.
The trees shed their leaves in the cold season.
This is an adaptation for protecting themselves against the winter snow and frost.
Shedding begins in autumn, the ‘fall’ season. Growth begins in spring.
Some of the common species include oak, elm, ash, birch, beech, and poplar.