Environment & Biodiversity MCQs

Notes:
The National Disaster Management Authority, which is also termed as NDMA, is an apex body of the Government of India which mandates to lay down different policies for disaster management. It is headed by the Prime Minister of India.

Notes:
Climate change can be defined as the ongoing rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system. From all the given options only climate change is not a natural hazard but is induced by human activities.

Notes:
The post-analysis of any disaster is most important so as to prepare ourselves for the next one. Three methods are used to determine the level of Hard by any man-made or natural hazard which includes:
1) Magnitude.
2) Frequency and
3) Intensity

Notes:
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges the low lying lands. Some of the reasons which are responsible for floods are deforestation, tilling of land, etc. Afforestation is a method that can be helpful in preventing floods.

Notes:
Ecotype is the basic unit of Biosystematics. It is adapted to a particular environment but capable of producing fully fertile hybrids with other ecotypes. The term Ecotype proposed by Turesson refers to “an ecological unit to cover the product arising as a result of genotypical response of an ecospecies to a particular habitat.”

Notes:
PPM is an abbreviation of Parts Per Million. It is commonly used as a measure of small levels of pollutants in air, water, body fluids, etc. Parts per million is the mass ratio between the pollutant component and the solution.

Notes:
Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe methyl mercury poisoning. It is caused by eating large quantities of fish and shellfish polluted by methyl mercury in factory wastewater. The disease is named after Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, where it was first discovered in 1956.

Notes:
In the gas tragedy that occurred at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on 2-3 December 1984, over 500,000 people were exposed to toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals. An estimated 10,000 or more people died in human disaster.

Notes:
Thalweg Doctrine is a part of international law that aims to resolve water boundary disputes. The doctrine states that the boundary between two states divided by a flowing body of water may be drawn along the thalweg, which is the line of the greatest depth of the channel. The boundary would follow the center of the principal navigable channel of the waterway.

The Thalweg Doctrine has been used in several disputes, including:

1. The Shatt al-Arab between Iraq and Iran
2. The Danube in central Europe (Croatia–Serbia border dispute)
3. The Kasikili/Sedudu Island dispute between Namibia and Botswana
4. The 2004 dispute settlement under the UN Law of the Sea

The Thalweg Doctrine has also been used in the Sir Creek dispute between India and Pakistan. The dispute is not settled yet due to a lack of trust.

Notes:
The Pantanal Conservation Area, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, accounts for 1.3% of the vast Pantanal wetland in Brazil and spans across 187,818 hectares. It provides shelter for more than 650 bird species, 325 fish species, and 80 mammal species, including giant armadillo and jaguar. The area’s unique ecosystem extends from floodplains to the Amolar Mountains, supporting diverse habitats and maintaining regional fish stocks. Moreover, it is an all-important breeding ground for wetland birds and refuge for globally threatened species like the hyacinth macaw. Additionally, it is a Ramsar Wetland and a UNESCO Man & Biosphere Reserve.