Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Environment) – August 15, 2020

Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure is followed by Rotterdam Convention and Basel Convention.

• The Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure is the mechanism for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing Parties, as to whether they wish to receive future shipments of those chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by exporting Parties.
• The chemicals listed in Annex III include pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons by two or more Parties and which the Conference of the Parties has decided to subject to the PIC procedure.

The Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) (Odisha) has lost one of its beloved members — 41-year-old Orangutan, an extant species of great apes.

• According to NZP, the Orangutan named ‘Bini’ died due to age-related complications.
• He also suffered from respiratory tract infection.

The new genus and species of the natricine — predominantly aquatic — that took a seven-member team of herpetologists 12 years to document, has been named Smithophis atemporalis after eminent British herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith for his immense contribution to Indian herpetology.

• Although new to science, the discovery is locally called Ruahlawmrul or rain-loving snake.
• The maximum recorded size of the new species is 655 mm and is commonly seen in human dominated landscapes after rains.
• The team led by Varad B. Giri of the Bengaluru-based National Centre for Biological Sciences and comprising two Mizoram zoologists — H.T. Lalremsanga and Samuel Lalronunga — had conducted molecular analyses to find that Ruahlawmrul and other species called bicoloured forest snake (Rhabdops bicolor), found primarily in Meghalaya, differed from the Olive forest snake (Rhabdops olivaceous) endemic to Western Ghats.

The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was created in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to develop consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies, banks, and investors in providing information to stakeholders.

• Increasing the amount of reliable information on financial institutions’ exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities will strengthen the stability of the financial system, contribute to greater understanding of climate risks and facilitate financing the transition to a more stable and sustainable economy.
• Following the publication of the final recommendations by FSB’s TCFD in June 2017, UNEP FI began a series of ‘TCFD Pilot Projects’ for banks, investors, and insurers. Participants in these pilots have worked to pioneer practical approaches for the assessment and disclosure of climate risks and opportunities.

NOTE: United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a partnership between UNEP and the global financial sector to mobilize private sector finance for sustainable development.

• UNEP FI works with more than 300 members – banks, insurers, and investors – and over 100 supporting institutions – to help create a financial sector that serves people and planet while delivering positive impacts.
• We aim to inspire, inform and enable financial institutions to improve people’s quality of life without compromising that of future generations. By leveraging the UN’s role, UNEP FI accelerates sustainable finance.

An assessment of antibiotic pollution in rivers across the world shows that the concentration of antibiotics in some rivers is much higher than what is considered safe.

• According to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) industry alliance standards, the safe level ranges from 20-32,000 nanogramme per litre, depending on the antibiotic.
• However, in Bangladesh, the antibiotic metronidazole was found to 300 times the safe level — this was 170 times higher than what was estimated in London’s River Thames.
• The researchers — who presented their findings at the two day annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) in Helsinki, which began on May 27 — estimated presence of 14 antibiotics in rivers of 72 countries across six continents.
• A total of 711 sites were tested and antibiotics were found at 65 per cent of them.
• Trimethoprim, an antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infection, was found at 307 of the 711 sites tested.
• Ciproflaxacin most frequently exceeded safe levels, surpassing the safety threshold at 51 places.

The National Green Tribunal has issued an order restraining Andhra Pradesh from proceeding further with the Godavari-Krishna-Penna river-linking project till the requisite environmental clearances and other permissions are taken under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

• The river valley projects require environmental clearance and also consent under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
• The project could not be allowed till the requisite environmental requirements were met.

Global sportswear giant Adidas aims at eliminating the use of virgin plastics in its products by 2024 — with a little help from a Maharashtra-based firm — the only one of its kind in the country to produce yarn out of discarded PET bottles.

• At its first factory set up in Nashik five years ago, Polygenta Technology Limited deploys a unique technology to break down used PET (short for Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles and convert them into polyester filament yarn.
• The firm, with a capacity to convert 30 tonnes of PET bottles into yarn a day, plans to scale up capacity to around 100 tonnes a day in the next two years to meet demand from the likes of Adidas — one of its first clients.

NOTE: According to the United Nations, around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year — roughly the weight of the entire human population. Of this, eight million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans; PET bottles are the main contributors to plastic waste globally and in India.

Over 30% of India’s protected area has been covered under the final ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) notification, the Environment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha.

• As on June 25, 2019, final ESZ notifications covering 316 protected areas (PAs) and draft ESZ notification covering 199 protected areas have been published by the ministry.
• According to the ministry, out of the 651 Protected Areas (PAs) in India, 316 have been covered under the final ESZ notification which provides for prohibition of mining, stone quarrying and crushing units located within one k.m. of such protected areas.
• In the absence of the notification, an area of 10 k.m. around the PAs is considered ‘default ESZ’ according to the directions of the Supreme Court.
• Out of the 316 areas covered in ESZ final notification, 100 PAs are in Andaman and Nicobar Islands followed by 29 in Maharashtra and 23 protected areas in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• The ESZ notifications are issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Environment (Protection) Rules 1986.

Zero tillage is the process where the crop seed will be sown through drillers without prior land preparation and disturbing the soil where previous crop stubbles are present.

• Zero tillage not only reduce the cost of cultivation it also reduces the soil erosion, crop duration and irrigation requirement and weed effect which is better than tillage.
• Zero Tillage (ZT) also called No Tillage or Nil Tillage.

Advantages of Zero Tillage: Reduction in the crop duration and thereby early cropping can be obtained to get higher yields.

• Reduction in the cost of inputs for land preparation and therefore a saving of around 80%.
• Residual moisture can be effectively utilized and number of irrigations can be reduced.
• Dry matter and organic matter get added to the soil.
• Environmentally safe – Greenhouse effect will get reduced due to carbon sequestration.
• No tillage reduces the compaction of the soil and reduces the water loss by runoff and prevents soil erosion.
• As the soil is intact and no disturbance is done, No Till lands have more useful flora and fauna.

The ozone layer is a natural layer of gas in the upper atmosphere that protects humans and other living things from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.

• Although ozone is present in small concentrations throughout the atmosphere, most (around 90%) exists in the stratosphere, a layer 10 to 50 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.
• The ozone layer filters out most of the sun’s harmful UV radiation and is therefore crucial to life on Earth.

Ozone depletion: Scientists discovered in the 1970s that the ozone layer was being depleted.

• Atmospheric concentrations of ozone vary naturally depending on temperature, weather, latitude and altitude, while substances ejected by natural events such as volcanic eruptions can also affect ozone levels.
• However, these natural phenomena could not explain the levels of depletion observed and scientific evidence revealed that certain man-made chemicals were the cause.
• These ozone-depleting substances were mostly introduced in the 1970s in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications, mainly refrigerators, air conditioners and fire extinguishers.
• Vienna Convention (1985), Montreal Protocol (1987) and Kigali Agreement (2016) all three deal with the protection of ozone layer.