[Mission 2024] STATIC QUIZ, 9 November 2023 – Environment

Solution: c)

There is a growing tendency among firms and governments to mark all kinds of activities as climate-friendly, as something that would lead to emissions reduction, or avoidance of emissions. Many of these claims are unverifiable, misleading, or dubious. While they help in boosting the image of the entity, sometimes even helping them garner benefits, they do nothing in the fight against climate change.

Greenwashing presents a false picture of the progress being made on the climate change front, thereby pushing the world towards disaster, while at the same time rewarding entities for irresponsible behaviour.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Soil Organic Matter (SOM) is mainly composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but also has small amounts of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, sulphur, potassium, calcium and magnesium contained within organic residues.

After carbon enters the soil in the form of organic material from soil fauna and flora, it can persist in the soil for decades, centuries or even millennia. Eventually, SOC can be lost as CO2 or CH4 emitted back into the atmosphere, eroded soil material, or dissolved organic carbon washed into rivers and oceans.

Solution: c)

An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age.

Evidence of multiple advances and retreats of glaciers, and the sediment deposits in glacial lakes reveal the occurrence of warm and cold periods in the history of earth. It is a strong evidence of climate change.

Because trees are sensitive to local climate conditions, such as rain and temperature, they give scientists some information about that area’s local climate in the past. For example, tree rings usually grow wider in warm, wet years and they are thinner in years when it is cold and dry.

Solution: c)

Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms common in water and sometimes found in soil. Not all produce toxins but scientists say toxic ones are occurring more frequently as climate change drives up global temperatures.

Some cyanobacterial blooms can harm people and animals and scientists are concerned about their potential impact as climate change leads to warmer water temperatures, which many cyanobacteria prefer.

Solution: c)

A part of the Arctic’s ice called “Last Ice Area”, located north of Greenland, has melted before expected. Scientists had believed this area was strong enough to withstand global warming.

The area is important because it was thought to be able to help ice-dependent species as ice in the surrounding areas melted away. The area is used by polar bears to hunt for seals who use ice to build dens for their offspring. Walruses too, use the surface of the ice for foraging.