Environment – GK Questions

Crop rotation improves soil fertility, breaks pest cycles, and reduces erosion by alternating crops with different nutrient needs and root structures.

Desertification is land degradation in drylands resulting from various factors including climate variability and unsustainable land use.

Terracing creates stepped levels on slopes, slowing water flow, reducing erosion, and retaining soil moisture for cultivation.

Removal of vegetation cover by deforestation and overgrazing exposes soil to wind and water, accelerating erosion and land degradation.

Contour bunding involves building embankments along contours to reduce runoff, conserve soil moisture, and prevent erosion on slopes.

GAP Phase-I was launched in 1986 to intercept, divert, and treat domestic sewage and industrial effluents entering the Ganga.

Oligotrophic lakes have low productivity, clear water, and high oxygen levels, contrasting with nutrient-rich eutrophic lakes.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a time-bound campaign for water conservation, including rainwater harvesting, rejuvenation of water bodies, and reuse.

Untreated industrial discharge and sewage introduce heavy metals, pathogens, and organic pollutants, degrading river water quality.

Virtual water represents the water used to produce commodities; trading such goods effectively transfers water resources between regions.

The Indus Water Treaty (1960) covers the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab (to Pakistan) and Ravi, Beas, Sutlej (to India); Yamuna is not part of this treaty.

Desalination uses methods like reverse osmosis or distillation to remove salts from seawater, providing freshwater in water-scarce regions.

Rainwater harvesting captures and stores rain for direct use or groundwater recharge, reducing water scarcity and flood risks.

Johads are earthen check dams that capture rainwater, recharge groundwater, and have been traditionally used in Rajasthan for water conservation.

The Haber-Bosch process for producing ammonia fertilizers has doubled the rate of nitrogen fixation, causing eutrophication and other environmental issues.

Sulfur cycles through the atmosphere as SO2 from volcanoes and combustion, and through rocks and oceans as sulfates and sulfides.

CO2 is a major greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and is cycled through photosynthesis, respiration, and combustion.

Oceans store about 38,000 gigatons of carbon, primarily as dissolved inorganic carbon, making them the largest active carbon reservoir.

Denitrifying bacteria like Pseudomonas convert nitrates back to nitrogen gas (N2), releasing it into the atmosphere and completing the nitrogen cycle.

Transpiration is part of the water cycle where plants release water vapor through stomata, contributing significantly to atmospheric moisture.