UGC NET Environmental Science Unit-X: Contemporary Environmental Issues Syllabus

Unit-X: Contemporary Environmental Issues syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Unit-X: Contemporary Environmental Issues in UGC NET Environmental Science, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Global Environmental Issues

   5 topics

   • Biodiversity loss
   • Climate change
   • Ozone layer depletion
   • Sea level rise
   • International efforts for environmental protection
2. 2

   National Action Plan on Climate Change

   8 topics

   • National Solar Mission
   • National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
   • National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
   • National Water Mission
   • National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
   • National Mission for a 'Green India'
   • National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
   • National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
3. 3

   Current Environmental Issues in India

   17 topics

   • Environmental issues related to water resource projects
   • Hydro-power projects in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal and North-Eastern States
   • Water conservation-development of watersheds
   • Rain water harvesting and ground water recharge
   • National river conservation plan
   • Eutrophication and restoration of lakes
   • Conservation of wetlands, Ramsar sites in India
   • Soil erosion, reclamation of degraded land, desertification and its control
   • Climate change - adaptability, energy security, food security and sustainability
   • Forest Conservation
   • Wild life conservation projects
   • Carbon sequestration and carbon credits
   • Waste Management
   • Sustainable Habitat
   • Vehicular emission norms in India
   • Epidemiological Issues
   • Environmental Disasters

Unit-X: Contemporary Environmental Issues flashcards for UGC NET Environmental Science

24 of 50 cards from the Unit-X: Contemporary Environmental Issues deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is biodiversity loss, and what are its primary anthropogenic drivers (the 'HIPPO' framework)?

   Biodiversity loss is the decline/extinction of species and degradation of ecosystems. The main drivers are summarized as HIPPO: Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Pollution, Population (human) growth, and Overexploitation (overharvesting).

2. How many biodiversity hotspots occur in India, and which are they?

   Four biodiversity hotspots extend into India: the Himalaya, the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, the Indo-Burma region, and Sundaland (Nicobar Islands).

3. Which international treaty is the principal global agreement for conserving biodiversity, and when was it adopted?

   The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Its three objectives are conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair/equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources.

4. What is the enhanced greenhouse effect that causes climate change, and which are the major greenhouse gases?

   It is the extra trapping of outgoing longwave (infrared) radiation by gases added through human activity, warming the lower atmosphere. Major GHGs: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), water vapour, and synthetic gases (CFCs, HFCs, PFCs, SF6).

5. What is Global Warming Potential (GWP)?

   GWP measures how much heat a greenhouse gas traps over a given period (usually 100 years) relative to the same mass of CO2 (whose GWP = 1). For example, methane has a GWP of about 28-30 and nitrous oxide about 265-298.

6. What is the IPCC and what does it do?

   The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established in 1988 by WMO and UNEP. It assesses scientific literature on climate change and publishes periodic Assessment Reports; it does not conduct original research but reviews and synthesizes it for policymakers.

7. What causes stratospheric ozone layer depletion, and which chemicals are responsible?

   It is caused by ozone-depleting substances (ODS) - chiefly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl bromide. UV light frees chlorine/bromine atoms that catalytically destroy ozone (one Cl atom can destroy thousands of O3 molecules).

8. What is a Dobson Unit (DU) and what is the threshold for an 'ozone hole'?

   A Dobson Unit measures the total column of ozone overhead; 1 DU equals a 0.01 mm thick layer of pure ozone at standard temperature and pressure. The 'ozone hole' is defined as total column ozone below 220 DU.

9. Distinguish the Vienna Convention from the Montreal Protocol on ozone protection.

   The Vienna Convention (1985) is the framework agreement establishing cooperation to protect the ozone layer. The Montreal Protocol (1987) is its binding protocol that sets the actual phase-out schedules for ozone-depleting substances; the 2016 Kigali Amendment added HFC phase-down.

10. What are the main causes of global sea level rise?

    Two dominant causes: (1) thermal expansion of seawater as oceans warm, and (2) addition of water from melting land ice (glaciers and the Greenland/Antarctic ice sheets). Land subsidence and reduced groundwater storage are secondary contributors.

11. Name the eight national missions under India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC, 2008).

    (1) National Solar Mission, (2) National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, (3) National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, (4) National Water Mission, (5) National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, (6) National Mission for a Green India, (7) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, and (8) National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.

12. What is the National Solar Mission (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission), and what is its current installed-capacity target?

    Launched in 2010 to promote solar power for energy security and reduced fossil dependence. Its target was revised upward to 100 GW of installed solar capacity by 2022 (as part of India's broader 175 GW renewable goal).

13. What is the key market mechanism of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE)?

    The PAT scheme - Perform, Achieve and Trade - a market-based mechanism that sets energy-efficiency targets for energy-intensive industries and lets over-achievers earn tradable Energy Saving Certificates (ESCerts) sold to under-achievers.

14. What is the focus of the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat?

    Making cities sustainable through improved energy efficiency in buildings, better solid-waste management, and a shift to public/sustainable transport. It promotes the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and urban planning that lowers emissions and improves climate resilience.

15. What is the principal numerical target of the National Water Mission?

    Improving water-use efficiency by 20%, along with conservation of water, minimizing wastage, and ensuring more equitable distribution of water resources across and within states through integrated water resource management.

16. What is the objective of the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)?

    To conserve and protect the biodiversity, forest cover, and glacial/hydrological resources of the Himalaya, and to build scientific understanding (monitoring glaciers, ecosystems) and institutional capacity to assess and respond to climate change in the Himalayan region.

17. What is the Green India Mission (National Mission for a Green India) and its afforestation target?

    It aims to protect, restore, and enhance India's forest cover and respond to climate change. Targets include increasing forest/tree cover on about 5 million hectares and improving quality of cover on another 5 million ha (10 million ha total), enhancing the carbon sink.

18. What is the aim of the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)?

    To make Indian agriculture more resilient to climate change by promoting integrated farming, soil health management, efficient water use (e.g., micro-irrigation), and adoption of climate-resilient practices and crop varieties to sustain productivity.

19. What does the National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC) do?

    It builds the knowledge base for climate action - funding research, creating climate-science networks and a Climate Change Knowledge Network, developing models, and strengthening institutional capacity to support evidence-based policy and the other NAPCC missions.

20. List the major environmental problems associated with large water resource (dam) projects.

    Submergence of forests and farmland, displacement of people (rehabilitation issues), loss of biodiversity, sediment trapping leading to downstream erosion, waterlogging and salinity in command areas, induced (reservoir) seismicity, methane emissions, and disruption of river ecology and fish migration.

21. Why are hydro-power projects in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-Eastern states environmentally sensitive?

    They lie in the seismically active, fragile young Himalaya. Concerns include landslides and slope instability, deforestation, threats to high biodiversity, glacial-lake outburst flood (GLOF) risk, disruption of river flow and fish, and displacement of tribal/local communities.

22. What is a watershed, and what does watershed development involve?

    A watershed is an area of land that drains all its water to a common outlet (river, stream, or reservoir). Watershed development is the integrated management of its soil, water, and vegetation - through contour bunding, check dams, afforestation, and water harvesting - to conserve resources and improve productivity.

23. Define rainwater harvesting and name its two broad methods.

    Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater for use or recharge instead of letting it run off. Two broad methods: (1) surface/storage harvesting (tanks, ponds, rooftop collection into storage), and (2) recharge of groundwater (recharge pits, trenches, recharge wells, percolation tanks).

24. What are common artificial groundwater recharge structures?

    Recharge pits and shafts, recharge (injection) wells, percolation tanks, check dams/nala bunds, contour trenches, and rooftop-to-borewell recharge systems - all designed to channel rainwater/runoff into aquifers to raise the water table.

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