This compilation focuses on specific topics under the broad category of Ecology & Environment—Climate Change and Climate Conferences. It includes carefully selected Previous Year Questions (PYQs) to help aspirants understand recurring themes, key concepts, and critical issues in these areas. Enhance your preparation with this targeted resource for a competitive edge.
Q. Consider the following statements:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2023)
- Aerosols
- Foam agents
- Fire retardants
- Lubricants
In the making of how many of the above are hydrofluorocarbons used?
- (a) 1 Only
- (b) 2 Only
- (c) 3 Only
- (d) All four
Answer: (d)
Q. With reference to the Earth’s atmosphere, which one of the following statements is correct?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2023)
- (a) The total amount of insolation received at the equator is roughly about 10 times of that received at the poles.
- (b) Infrared rays constitute roughly two-thirds of insolation.
- (c) Infrared waves are largely absorbed by water vapor that is concentrated in the atmosphere.
- (d) Infrared waves are a part of a visible spectrum of electromagnetic waves of solar radiation.
Answer: (c)
Q. Consider the following activities:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2023)
- Spreading finely crowned basalt rock on farmlands extensively.
- Increasing the alkalinity of oceans by adding lime.
- Capturing carbon dioxide released by various industries and pumping it into abandoned subterranean mines in the form of carbonated waters.
How many of the above activities are often considered and discussed for carbon capture and sequestration?
- (a) 1 Only
- (b) 2 Only
- (c) All three
- (d) None
Answer: (c)
Q. Consider the following statements:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2023)
- Statement 1: Carbon markets are likely to be one of the most widespread tools in the fight against climate change.
- Statement 2: Carbon markets transfer resources from the private sector to the state.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
- (a) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct, and Statement 2 is the correct explanation of Statement 1.
- (b) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct, and Statement 2 is not the correct explanation of Statement 1.
- (c) Statement 1 is correct, but Statement 2 is not correct.
- (d) Statement 1 is not correct, but Statement 2 is correct.
Answer: (b)
Q. Among the following crops, which one is the most important anthropogenic source of both methane and nitrous oxide?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2022)
- (a) Cotton
- (b) Rice
- (c) Sugarcane
- (d) Wheat
Answer: (b)
Q. Which one of the following best describes the term “greenwashing”?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2022)
- (a) Conveying a false impression that a company’s products are eco-friendly and environmentally sound.
- (b) Non-inclusion of ecological/environmental costs in the Annual Financial Statements of a country.
- (c) Ignoring the consequences of disastrous ecological damage while infrastructure development undertaking.
- (d) Making mandatory provisions for environmental costs in a government project/programme.
Answer: (a)
Q. Consider the following:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2022)
- Carbon monoxide
- Nitrogen oxide
- Ozone
- Sulphur dioxide
Excess of which of the above in the environment is/are cause(s) of acid rain?
- (a) 1 and 3 only
- (b) 2 and 4 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 3 and 4
Answer: (b)
Q The ‘Common Carbon Metric’, supported by UNEP, has been developed for
(UPSC (Pre) – 2021)
- (a) assessing the carbon footprint of building operations around the world
- (b) enabling commercial farming entities around the world to enter carbon emission trading
- (c) enabling governments to assess the overall carbon footprint caused by their countries
- (d) assessing the overall carbon footprint caused by the use of fossil fuels by the world in a unit time
Answer: (a)
Q. In the context of India’s preparation for Climate-Smart Agriculture, consider the following statements:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2021)
- The ‘Climate-Smart Village’ approach in India is a part of a project led by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), an international research programme.
- The project of CCAFS is carried out under Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) headquartered in France.
- The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India is one of the CGIAR’s research centres.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
Q. In rural road construction, the use of which of the following is preferred for ensuring environmental sustainability or to reduce carbon footprint?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2020)
- Copper slag
- Cold mix asphalt technology
- Geotextiles
- Hot mix asphalt technology
- Portland cement
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
- (a) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (b) 2, 3 and 4 only
- (c) 4 and 5 only
- (d) 1, 3 and 5 only
Answer: (a)
Q. Which one of the following statements best describes the term ‘Social Cost of Carbon’? It is a measure, in monetary value of the
(UPSC (Pre) – 2020)
- (a) long-term damage done by a tonne of CO₂ emissions in a given year.
- (b) requirement of fossil fuels for a country to provide goods and services to its citizens, based on the burning of those fuels.
- (c) efforts put in by a climate refugee to adapt to live in a new place.
- (d) contribution of an individual person to the carbon footprint on the planet.
Answer: (a)
Q. The term ‘sixth mass extinction/sixth extinction’ is often mentioned in the news in the context of the discussion of
(UPSC (Pre) – 2018)
- (a) Widespread monoculture practices in agriculture and large-scale commercial farming with indiscriminate use of chemicals in many parts of the world that may result in the loss of good native ecosystems.
- (b) Fears of a possible collision of a meteorite with the Earth in the near future in the manner it happened 65 million years ago that caused the mass extinction of many species including those of dinosaurs.
- (c) Large-scale cultivation of genetically modified crops in many parts of the world and promoting their cultivation in other parts of the world which may cause the disappearance of good native crop plants and the loss of food biodiversity.
- (d) Mankind’s over-exploitation/misuse of natural resources, fragmentation/loss of natural habitats, destruction of ecosystems, pollution and global climate change.
Answer: (d)
Q. Which of the following statements best describes “carbon fertilization”?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2018)
- (a) Increased plant growth due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- (b) Increased temperature of Earth due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- (c) Increased acidity of oceans as a result of increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- (d) Adaptation of all living beings on Earth to the climate change brought about by the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Answer: (a)
Q. In the context of mitigating the impending global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2017)
- Abandoned and uneconomic coal seams
- Depleted oil and gas reservoirs
- Subterranean deep saline formations
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
Q. Which one of the following is associated with the issue of control and phasing out of the use of ozone-depleting substances?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2015)
- (a) Bretton Woods Conference
- (b) Montreal Protocol
- (c) Kyoto Protocol
- (d) Nagoya Protocol
Answer: (b)
Q. The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the air is slowly raising the temperature of the atmosphere, because it absorbs
(UPSC (Pre) – 2013)
- (a) The water vapour of the air and retains its heat
- (b) The ultraviolet part of the solar radiation
- (c) All the solar radiations
- (d) The infrared part of the solar radiation
Answer: (d)
Q. Acid rain is caused by the pollution of environment by
(UPSC (Pre) – 2013)
- (a) Carbon dioxide and nitrogen
- (b) Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
- (c) Ozone and carbon dioxide
- (d) Nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide
Answer: (d)
Q. Which of the following can be threats to the biodiversity of a geographical area?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2012)
- Global warming
- Fragmentation of habitat
- Invasion of alien species
- Promotion of vegetarianism
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 4
- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (a)
Q. Consider the following statements:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2012)
Chlorofluorocarbons, known as ozone-depleting substances, are used
- in the production of plastic foams
- in the production of tubeless tyres
- in cleaning certain electronic components
- as pressurizing agents in aerosol cans
Which of the statement/s given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (b) 4 only
- (c) 1, 3 and 4 only
- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (c)
Q. Human activities in the recent past have caused the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but a lot of it does not remain in the lower atmosphere because of
(UPSC (Pre) – 2011)
- Its escape into the outer stratosphere.
- The photosynthesis by phytoplankton in the oceans.
- The trapping of air in the polar ice caps.
Which of the statement/s given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3
- (d) 3 only
Answer: (d)
Q. The formation of ozone hole in the Antarctic region has been a cause of concern. What could be the reason for the formation of this hole?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2011)
- (a) Presence of prominent tropospheric turbulence; and inflow of chlorofluorocarbons
- (b) Presence of prominent polar front and stratospheric clouds; and inflow of chlorofluorocarbons
- (c) Absence of polar front and stratospheric clouds; and inflow of methane and chlorofluorocarbons
- (d) Increased temperature at polar region due to global warming
Answer: (b)
Q. Consider the following which can be found in the ambient atmosphere:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2010)
- Soot
- Sulphur hexafluoride
- Water vapour
Which of the above contribute to the warming up of the atmosphere?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 3 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
Q. Due to their extensive rice cultivation, some regions may be contributing to global warming. To what possible reason/reasons is this attributable?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2010)
- The anaerobic conditions associated with rice cultivation cause the emission of methane.
- When nitrogen-based fertilizers are used, nitrous oxide is emitted from the cultivated soil.
Which of the statement/s given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c)
Q. Consider the following:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2010)
- Oxides of Hydrogen
- Oxides of Nitrogen
- Oxides of Sulphur
Which of the above causes/cause acid rain?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 3 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (c)
Q. Which of the following conditions indicate the impact of global warming? Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2009)
- Melting of glaciers
- Rise in sea level
- Changes in weather conditions
- Rise in global temperature
Code:
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 1, 2 and 3
- (c) 2, 3 and 4
- (d) All the above
Answer: (d)
Q. Consider the following:
(UPSC (Pre) – 2008)
- Rice fields
- Coal mining
- Domestic animals
- Wet lands
Which of the above are sources of methane, a major greenhouse gas?
- (a) 1 and 4 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (d)
Q. Which one of the following countries is the first country in the world to propose a carbon tax for its people to address global warming?
(UPSC (Pre) – 2006)
- (a) Australia
- (b) Germany
- (c) Japan
- (d) New Zealand
Answer: (d)