Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – February 23, 2018

All of the mentioned factors are responsible for unequal distribution of temperature across the surface of ocean.

Off-shore winds drive away warm surface waters from the coast, resulting in upwelling, whereas onshore winds pile up warm water near the coast, which raises the temperature. If the ocean is nearby equator, its surface waters will be warmer compared to that of surface waters near by Polar Regions. This is because of incoming solar radiations. The ocean/sea nearby land receives more heat due to their contact with land, hence oceans in the northern hemisphere are warmer compared to that of southern hemisphere. Warm ocean currents raise the temperature in the cold areas while the cold currents decrease the temperature in warm ocean areas.

Both the statements are correct.

Bars, Barriers and Spits are depositional landforms.

A ridge of sand and shingle formed in the sea in the off-shore zone (from the position of low tide waterline to seaward) lying approximately parallel to the coast is called an off-shore bar. An off-shore bar which is exposed due to further addition of sand is termed a barrier bar.

The off-shore bars and barriers commonly form across the mouth of a river or at the entrance of a bay. Sometimes such barrier bars get keyed up to one end of the bay when they are called spits.

Duar formation is can be seen in Arunachal Himalayas.

Duars are alluvial floodplains in northeastern India that lie south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas and north of the Brahmaputra River basin.

As compared to the other sections of the Himalayas, these along with the Arunachal Himalayas are conspicuous by the absence of the Shwalik formations. In place of Shwaliks here, the ‘duar formations’ are important, which have also been used for the development of tea gardens. Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalayas are also known for their scenic beauty and rich flora and fauna, particularly various types of orchids.

In the Arunachal Himalayas, due to rugged topography, the inter-valley transportation linkages are nominal. Hence, most of the interactions are carried through the duar region along the Arunachal-Assam border.

The Masai are a nomadic tribe confined to Kenya and Tanzania. The Hausa are a tribe of settled cultivators who inhabit the Savanna lands.

The Bushmen peoples of South Africa and neighboring Botswana and Namibia, who live in the Kalahari Desert.

The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current that extends the Gulf Stream north-eastward.

The eastward deflection of the Gulf Stream under the influence of westerlies and Coriolis takes it to the west Europe coast. It branches out in three directions, along the Arctic, eastwards towards the Britain and southwards towards the Iberian coast in the form of Canaries Current. It carries warm waters to the west coast of Europe and helps in moderating the Climate.

Lichens are mutualistic associations of a fungus and an algae or cyanobacterium and occur as crusty patches or bushy growths on trees, rocks and bare ground.

Lichens are widely used as environmental indicators or bio-indicators.

If air is very badly polluted with Sulphur Dioxide there may be no lichens present, just green algae may be found. If the air is clean, shrubby, hairy and leafy lichens become abundant. A few lichen species can tolerate quite high levels of pollution and are commonly found on pavements, walls and tree bark in urban areas.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Kigali Agreement is a legally binding agreement and will come into force from January 1, 2019.

Statement 2 is correct. The Kigali Agreement upholds the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR & RC). It recognizes the development imperatives of high-growth economies like India, and provides a realistic and viable roadmap for the implementation of a phase-out schedule for high global warming potential (GWP) HFCs.

About Kigali Agreement:

In the 28th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, negotiators from 197 nations have signed a historic agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, a capital city of a tiny African country, Rwanda on 15th October 2016.

As per the agreement, these countries are expected to reduce the manufacture and use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly 80-85%  from their respective baselines, till 2045.

This phase down is expected to arrest the global average temperature rise up to 0.5o C by 2100.

Kigali agreement is an amendment to Montreal Protocol.