Daily Quiz #2 UPSC Prelims Marathon – November 2, 2019

Explanation: A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in “The Environmentalist” (1988) and 1990 revised after thorough analysis by Myers and others “Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions”
To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:
•It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics — which is to say, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot, in other words, is irreplaceable.
•It must have 30% or less of its original natural vegetation. In other words, it must be threatened.

Explanation: “Blue carbon” is the carbon that is stored naturally by marine and coastal ecosystems, hence the name. Three types of coastal ecosystems — mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes — store half the “blue” carbon buried beneath the ocean floor.
It’s important because the release of carbon into the atmosphere is a major driver of climate change, and because blue carbon ecosystems hold a LOT of carbon — a given area of mangrove forest, for example, can store up to 10 times as much carbon as the same area of land-based forest.

Explanation: The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites or the List of Wetlands of International Importance, where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.
It is the principle tool under the Ramsar convention for highlighting wetlands sites in need of priority conservation status. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar Database and is subject to continuous review.
In the 4th meeting of Conference of Contracting Parties to Ramsar Convention at Montreux, Switzerland in 1990, it was discussed that only listing of sites under Ramsar convention isn t sufficient. So, it recommended the creation of a database of sites that are facing change in ecological character or have a potential threat. These sites to get priority attention and possible application of the Monitoring Procedure.

Explanation: Hangul, the state animal of Jammu & Kashmir, is restricted to the Dachigam National Park some 15 km north-west of Jammu & Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar. The Hangul is placed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the J&K Wildlife Protection Act, 1978.
The Hangul was once widely distributed in the mountains of Kashmir and parts of Chamba district in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. The IUCN’s Red List has classified it as Critically Endangered and is similarly listed under the Species Recovery Programme of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Environmental Information System (ENVIS) of the MoEFCC.

Explanation: ACROSS Scheme: The scheme pertains to the atmospheric science programs of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Its objective is to provide reliable weather and climate forecast for betterment of society. It also aims at improving skill of weather and climate forecast through sustained observations, intensive R & D. It consists of nine sub-programmes which are multi-disciplinary and multi institutional in nature and will be implemented in integrated manner. It seeks to addresses different aspects of weather and climate services, which includes warnings for cyclone, storm surges, heat waves, thunderstorms etc. Each of these aspects is incorporated as nine sub-schemes under umbrella scheme ACROSS and is implemented in integrated manners.