Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – June 15, 2018

When carbon dioxide is inhaled the CO combines to form Carboxy hemoglobin (COHb). Carboxy hemoglobin (COHb) is a stable complex of carbon monoxide and hemoglobin that red blood cells upon contact with carbon monoxide (CO) large quantities of CO hinders the ability of Hb to deliver oxygen to the body CO is produced is normal metabolism and is also a common chemical. Tobacco smoking (through carbon monoxide inhalation) raise the blood levels of COHb by a factor of several times from its normal concentration

The yew tree ( Taxusbaccata) is so poisonous that eating a handful of needles can kill a person. Yet a chemical found in yew bark has proven to be an effective anti cancer medicine Demand for his drug, known as a paclitaxel , or taxol became so high that in the 1990s, several species of yew trees were threatened from over harvesting. Today chemists make the medicine from other, more abundant chemicals in yew trees, or from cells grown in vats of liquid, spraring the trees. These methods all harness the power of nature to grow chemicals that would be nearly impossible to make from scratch in a lab.

Biomagnification refers to the process by which certain substance such a pesticide or heavy metals move up the food chain, work their way into rivers or lakes and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which is turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans. The substance become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chains. In this given food chain food crop ‘ rat ‘ snake ‘ hawk , the highest concentration of the pesticide would accummulate

Biodiversity hotspots are first identified as areas rich in endemic plants and containing a high diversity of species. Their ecosystem which were suffering the threats of outsiders and with time, lost most of their original habitat are under protection. Two specific criteria in defining the hotspots are first a specific territory must contain a minimum of 1,500 species of vascular plants, Equalling to more then 0.5% of the world ‘s total plant species as endemics Second, it has to value lost at least 70% of its original habitat.

Phytoplanktons absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis

Since CO2 is heavier than air, it sinks oceans than moving up also, during winters, it is observed that CO2 is trapped in ice caps.

Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler and usually nutrient rich water towards the ocean’s surface replacing the warmer, usually nutrient- depleted surface water. The nutrient rich upwelled water stimulates the growth and reproduction of primary producers such as phytoplankton. Due to biomass of phytoplankton and presence of cool water in these regions. Upwelling zones can be identified by cool sea surface temperature (SST) and high concentration of chlorophyll-A the increased availability in upwelling region results in high levels of primary productivity and thus fishery productions. Upwelling that a driven by coastal currents or diverging open oceans have the greatest impact on nutrient- enriched waters and global fishery yields.

actually the soil tropical rainforests is very poor there are several reasons for the poor soil of tropical rainforests:

•         The soil is highly acidic. The roots of plants rely on an acidity difference between the roots and the soil in order to absorb nutrients. When the soil is acidic, there is little difference and therefore little absorption of nutrient from the soil.
•         The type of clay particles present in tropical rainforest soil has poor ability to trap nutrients and stop them from washing away even if human artificially add nutrients to the soil. The nutrients mostly wash away and are not absorbed by the plants
•         The high temperature and moisture of tropical rainforests causes dead organic matter in the soil decompose more quickly than in other climates, thus releasing and loosing its nutrients rapidly
•         The high volume of rain in tropical rain forests washes nutrients out of soil more quickly than in other climates.