Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

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One of the world’s largest container ships, MSC Türkiye, recently docked at Vizhinjam International Seaport, marking a major step for India’s first deepwater transshipment port. The port is managed by Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), a company fully owned by the Government of Kerala. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram and is a natural deepwater multipurpose seaport. The port is designed to handle container transshipment, multipurpose, and break bulk cargo. It follows the landlord model with a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis, where private players manage operations and the authority regulates.

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The first No Objection Certificate (NOC) has been issued through the new Digital Portal for National Waterways to develop a jetty at Malim on River Mandovi. Mandovi River, also called Mahadayi or Mhadei, is known as the lifeline of Goa. It merges with the Zuari River and both flow into the Arabian Sea, forming the Mormugao harbour. The river starts from around 30 springs at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats, located in Belagavi district, Karnataka. Famous waterfalls on the river include Dudhsagar and Varapoha, and an important tributary is the River Mapusa.

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Recently, bioluminescent blue waves appeared in the backwaters of Kochi, Kerala, drawing tourists but causing concerns about environmental degradation among ecologists and fishers. Bioluminescence is the natural light produced by organisms like bacteria, fungi, and algae when coastal waters are disturbed. The main cause of this glow is Noctiluca scintillans, a type of plankton known as “sea sparkle”. This glow happens due to chemical reactions in parts called scintillons, and it is usually blue but can appear red or brown depending on the plankton’s concentration. The phenomenon is most commonly seen between March and May, known locally as “Kavaru” in Malayalam.

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Forest fires recently broke out in Phawngpui National Park in Mizoram, damaging nearly one-ninth of its total area, according to state forest officials. Phawngpui National Park, also called the Blue Mountain National Park, is in the southeastern corner of Mizoram, close to the India-Myanmar border. It is the highest peak in Mizoram, with an altitude of 2,157 meters above sea level. The park covers 50 square kilometres, overlooks the Chhimtuipui River, and offers views of Myanmar’s hill ranges.

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A rare and nearly complete fossil of Alamosaurus was recently discovered by geology students at Big Bend National Park in the United States of America. Alamosaurus was one of the largest herbivorous dinosaurs and lived during the late Cretaceous period around 100.5 to 66 million years ago. It was a sauropod with a long neck, long tail, and pillar-like legs, and had armoured spikes on its back for protection. Alamosaurus is the only known sauropod from North America’s Upper Cretaceous period and was the largest land animal in the region at that time. It stood about 11 meters tall, stretched 30.5 meters long, and weighed up to 80 metric tons, rivaling the size of Argentinosaurus from South America. Alamosaurus went extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, making it one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist.

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India is now the second-largest emitter of nitrous oxide (N₂O) in the world after China, raising climate concerns due to N₂O’s high global warming potential. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO₂) in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Nitrogen makes up around 78% of Earth’s atmosphere and is essential for DNA, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), proteins, and chlorophyll. Plants cannot use nitrogen gas (N₂) directly, so they depend on nitrogen-fixing bacteria called diazotrophs to convert it into usable forms. In the nitrogen cycle, ammonia changes into nitrites (NO₂⁻), then nitrates (NO₃⁻), which plants absorb. Excess nitrates are returned to the atmosphere through denitrification, maintaining balance in the nitrogen cycle.

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The Poas volcano in Costa Rica, one of the country’s top tourist spots, erupted recently, drawing global attention. It is one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica and is located inside the Poás Volcano National Park. The volcano is a composite stratovolcano with an irregular shape and a base covering around 400 square kilometers. It stands 2,708 meters above sea level and features a huge main crater about 1.5 kilometers wide and 300 meters deep. This crater is one of the largest active volcanic craters in the world.

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The Kallapu-Sajipa Riverfront Road project in Mangaluru has recently received a ₹40 crore boost from the Karnataka state government. This road will connect Mangaluru to important localities like Harekala, Pavoor, Innoli, and Ranipura along the Netravathi River. The Netravathi River, also called Nethravathi Nadi, is a major west-flowing river in Karnataka, India. It flows westward and drains into the Arabian Sea, just south of Mangaluru. The river originates in the Western Ghats, particularly from the Bangrabalike Valley in Yelaneeru Ghat. It lies in the Kudremukh range of Chikkamagaluru district.

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A recent report by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) says global trafficking of pangolin scales has dropped sharply since 2020 due to COVID-19 disruptions, strong law enforcement, and changing smuggling methods. Pangolins are insect-eating mammals found in tropical forests, grasslands, and farms, often near people. There are 8 species of pangolins — 4 in Africa and 4 in Asia, including the Indian pangolin found in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. They eat ants and termites, helping control pests and improve soil, which supports healthy ecosystems. Pangolins are hunted for their meat and scales used in traditional medicine. The Indian pangolin is listed as Endangered and the Chinese pangolin as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

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A recent breakthrough came as an international team of scientists successfully mapped the genome of the Saola using tissue fragments from hunter-collected remains. The Saola, scientifically named Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, is one of the rarest land mammals and is nicknamed the “Asian Unicorn” because of its secretive nature. It was first discovered in 1992 during a joint survey by the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It is listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with only about 50 to 300 individuals estimated as of 2015. The Saola lives in the evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains along the Vietnam–Laos border, a region rich in biodiversity and rainfall.