Environment – GK Questions

Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide absolute protection, and an offence involving these species attracts the highest penalties.

The Forest Conservation Act 1980 was enacted to check deforestation and conserve forests, making prior central approval mandatory for non-forest use.

The Air Act was enacted in 1981 to provide for the prevention, control, and abatement of air pollution.

Enacted in the wake of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the EPA 1986 is an umbrella legislation for environmental protection in India.

Argon is a noble gas and does not absorb and emit infrared radiation, unlike greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4, and water vapor.

Methane traps heat much more effectively than CO2, giving it a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of about 28-34 times that of CO2 over 100 years.

El Niño is the periodic warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, disrupting global weather patterns.

About 90% of the ozone in the atmosphere sits in the stratosphere, approximately 15 to 35 kilometers above Earth's surface.

Carbon sequestration is the process of capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate global warming.

Albedo refers to the fraction of solar energy (shortwave radiation) reflected from the Earth back into space, not absorbed.

The Montreal Protocol (1987) is a landmark environmental agreement that successfully phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ODS.

The central aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the rise in global average temperature well below 2°C, pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

The ozone hole is most severe over the Antarctic region due to the unique formation of polar stratospheric clouds and the polar vortex.

SF6 is the most potent greenhouse gas evaluated by the IPCC, with a GWP of 23,500 times that of CO2 over 100 years.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is known as laughing gas and is also a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance.

CO binds to hemoglobin about 200-250 times more strongly than oxygen, forming carboxyhemoglobin and causing tissue hypoxia.

Excess nitrates in drinking water are converted to nitrites in the infant's body, which bind to hemoglobin, reducing its oxygen-carrying capacity.

The CPCB sets the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 at 60 µg/m³ for a 24-hour average.

Decibels (dB) is the logarithmic unit used to measure sound level or noise pollution.

Eutrophication causes algal blooms; when the algae die and decompose, it heavily depletes the dissolved oxygen, causing hypoxia.