Environment Quiz: Environment |24 Apr, 2021

The scientific name for the tiger is Panthera tigris.

· There are eight subspecies of tiger: among the eight, at present five subspecies are present in the wild.

· They are – Bengal, South China, Indochinese, Sumatran, and Siberian.

· Three subspecies of tiger—Caspian, Bali, and Javan—are extinct.

Source: Shankar page no: 187

The process of estimating the number of tigers in a given area is called ‘Tiger census.’

· This exercise provides us with an estimate of tiger number, density and change in tiger indices – a measure of tiger occupancy in a given area.

· It is conducted at regular intervals to know the current tiger populations and population trends.

· Besides estimating the number of tigers, the method also helps to gather information on the density of the tiger populations and associated prey.

· The most commonly used technique in the past was ‘Pugmark Census Technique’.

· In this method the imprints of the pugmark of the tiger were recorded and used as a basis for identification of individuals.

· Now it is largely used as one of the indices of tiger occurrence and relative abundance.

Source: Shankar page no: 188

Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve is the largest tiger reserve in India.

· The reserve spreads over five districts, Kurnool District, Prakasam District, Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda District and Mahbubnagar district of Telangana state.

· The total area of the tiger reserve is 3,728 km².

Source: ENVIS

At COP 16, Parties established a Green Climate Fund (GCF) as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention under Article 11.

The GCF will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties. The Fund will be governed by the GCF Board.

Source: Shankar page no: 255

Climate-smart agriculture gives attention to landscape approaches, for example, integrated planning of land, agriculture, forests, fisheries and water to ensure synergies are captured.

· These can be further strengthened by adding better weather forecasting, more resilient food crops and risk insurance to cover losses when the vagaries of weather strike.

· If yields increase through such practices and become more stable, it results in improved farm incomes. A more stable income helps enhance the adaptive capacity of farmers.

· A good number of countries are now showing that it can be done.

· China has been a leader in this, with programs such as the Loess Plateau now internationally famous.

Source: Shankar page no: 263

The IPCC is a scientific body. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change.

· It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters.

· Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis.

· Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information.

Source: Shankar page no: 263

The IPCC established the national greenhouse gas Inventories Programme (NGGIP) to provide methods for estimating national inventories of greenhouse gas emissions to, and removals from, the atmosphere.

The guidance produced by the NGGIP is used by countries that are Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to estimate the emissions and removals that they report to the UNFCCC.

Source: Shankar page no: 264

GST refers to proposed five-yearly-review of the impact of climate change action undertaken by countries.

· Under the Paris Agreement, each country has to present a climate action plan every five years.

· Under the Paris Agreement, the first global stocktake will happen in 2023.

· It will help world to determine whether it needs to do more and how much more.

Source: Shankar page no: 259

Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME India) scheme rolled out in april, 2015 by Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

· The scheme will help promote use of electric and hybrid vehicles, and initially, a subsidy of 30% will be provided to the buyers.

· Phased replacement of fossil fuel-based vehicles with those based on latest technologies will lead to a net saving of Rs 14,000 crore.

· The scheme is proposed to be implemented over six years, till 2020, which looks at sales of electric and hybrid vehicles up to 60-70 lakh units per year.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) were notified in the year 1982, duly revised in 1994 based on health criteria and land uses.

The NAAQS have been revisited and revised in November 2009 for 12 pollutants, which include

· sulphur dioxide (SO2),

· nitrogen dioxide (NO2),

· particulate matter having size less than 10 micron (PM10),

· particulate matter having size less than 2.5 micron (PM2.5),

· ozone,

· lead,

· carbon monoxide (CO),

· arsenic,

· nickel,

· benzene,

· ammonia, and

· benzopyrene.

Source: The Hindu