Environment & Biodiversity MCQs
PDF compilation of Environment MCQs can be downloaded from this link.
11. The ‘thickness’ of Stratospheric Ozone layer is measured in/on:
[A] Sieverts
[B] Dobson units
[C] Melson units
[D] Beaufort Scale
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Dobson units]
Notes:
The ozone layer was discovered in 1913 by the French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson. Its properties were explored in detail by the British meteorologist G. M. B. Dobson, who developed a simple spectrophotometer (the Dobsonmeter) that could be used to measure stratospheric ozone from the ground. Between 1928 and 1958 Dobson established a worldwide network of ozone monitoring stations, which continue to operate to this day. The “Dobson unit”, a convenient measure of the columnar density of ozone overhead, is named in his honour.
12. Which among the following is the most abundant Green-House-Gas(GHG) in the earth’s atmosphere?
[A] Carbon dioxide
[B] Water Vapour
[C] Sulphur Dioxide
[D] Tropospheric Ozone
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Water Vapour]
Notes:
Water vapour also accounts for the largest percentage of the greenhouse effect, between 36% and 66% for clear sky conditions and between 66% and 85% when including clouds.
13. The Cartagena Protocol is regarding safe use, transfer and handling of:
[A] Nuclear waste
[B] Invasive Alien Species
[C] Living Modified Organisms(LMOs)
[D] Toxic bye-products and industrial effluents
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Living Modified Organisms(LMOs)]
Notes:
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force on 11 September 2003. It is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.
14. Which among the following multilateral environment agreements (MEAs) is not correctly paired with the respective issue it deals with ?
[A] Montreal Protocol of 1987 – Ozone Depleting Substances.
[B] Bonn Convention of 1979 – The conservation of Migratory Species
[C] Basel Convention of 1989 – Regulation of transboundary movement,transit, handling and use of Living Modified Organisms.
[D] Rotterdam Convention of 1998 – Consensual International Trade in certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Basel Convention of 1989 – Regulation of transboundary movement,transit, handling and use of Living Modified Organisms.]
Notes:
The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known simply as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste.
15. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) is headed by:
[A] R.K.Pachauri
[B] Vandana Shiva
[C] Madhav Gadgil
[D] Pradip Krishen
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Madhav Gadgil]
16. ‘Lion-tailed macaque’ is the key faunal species of which Biosphere Reserve?
[A] Nilgiri
[B] Dehang-Debang
[C] Dibru-Saikhowa
[D] Nokrek
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Nilgiri]
17. An aquatic plant introduced from America to check pollution turned out to be a troublesome weed in Indian water bodies. The name of this ‘invasive alien species’ is :
[A] Opuntia
[B] Aegilops
[C] Eichhornia
[D] Pistia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Eichhornia]
Notes:
Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as Common Water Hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often considered a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range. The plant was introduced by Belgian colonists to Rwanda to beautify their holdings and then advanced by natural means to Lake Victoria where it was first sighted in 1988. There, without any natural enemies, it has become an ecological plague, suffocating the lake, diminishing the fish reservoir, and hurting the local economies.
18. In Nitrogen Cycle, soil nitrates are transformed into free nitrogen by:
[A] Nitrifying bacteria
[B] Denitrifying bacteria
[C] Ammonifying bacteria
[D] Both [A] and[C]
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Denitrifying bacteria]
19. Which one of the following is a useful biological indicator of Sulphur-dioxide pollution ?
[A] Bryophytes
[B] Algal blooms
[C] Pseudomonas
[D] Lichens
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Lichens]
20. The relationship between water fern Azolla and cyanobacterium Anabaena is :
[A] Symbiotic
[B] Mutualistic
[C] Commensalism
[D] Proto-Cooperation
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Symbiotic]
