important topics

1. EVS&GS
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. Leachate
Leachate can be defined as a liquid that passes through a landfill and has
extracted dissolved and suspended matter from it. Water could be rain, or
contained in the waste itself. The leachate then pollutes nearby water sources
unusable for consumption. The black liquid contains organic and inorganic
chemicals, heavy metals as well as pathogens; it can pollute the groundwater
and therefore represents a health risk. Health effects could be short or long term.
2. Hazardous waste
Is a waste with properties like reactivity, inflammability and explosiveness that
make it potentially dangerous or harmful to human health and
environment. Hazardous wastes can be liquids, solids, or contained gases. The
most common examples of hazardous waste include paints, batteries, solvents,
cleaning agents and pesticides.
3. Bioremediation
Is a “treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous
substances into less toxic or non toxic substances.” It has been
successfully used to to clean up pollutants including crude oil, gasoline,
pesticides, sewage, and chlorinated solvents used in cleaning supplies. The
benefits of bioremediation include lower costs and less disruption of the
contaminated environment when compared to other cleanup methods
4. Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of waves caused by earthquakes or undersea volcanic
eruptions. These move with 1000 km / hr speed, while approaching the sea
shore they may often reach 15m – 65 m height and cause massive destruction in
coastal areas. Ex-A tsunami with a record run-up height of 1720 feet occurred
in Lituya Bay, Alaska on the night of July 9, 1958.

2. 5. Bhopal Gas Tragedy
On December 3, 1984, about 45 tons of the dangerous gas methyl isocyanate(MIC)
escaped from an insecticide plant that was owned by the Indian subsidiary of the
American firm Union Carbide Corporation. The gas drifted over the densely populated
neighborhoods around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately and creating a
panic as tens of thousands of others attempted to flee Bhopal. The final death toll was
estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000. Some half a million survivors suffered
respiratory problems, eye irritation or blindness, and other maladies resulting from
exposure to the toxic gas.
6. Eutrophication
Eutrophication occurs when an aquatic system has an overloaded nutrients like
nitrogen and phosphorous. It is most often caused by human activity like farming,
fertilizer run off. This leads to overgrowth of plants and algae in aquatic ecosystems.
After such organisms die, bacterial degradation of their biomass results in oxygen
consumption, thereby creating the state of hypoxia.
7. Biomagnification
Also known as bioaccumulation. Is any concentration of a toxin, such as
pesticides, accumulating in tissues of organisms at different tropic levels of food chain.It
effects humans to become more susceptible to cancers, liver and kidney failure,
respiratory disorders, birth defects in pregnant women, brain damage, and heart
diseases are a result of mercury, cadmium, lead, cobalt, chromium and other chemical
poisoning.
8. Acid Rain
Is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that
it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Acid rain is caused by emissions of
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the air from various sources, which react with the
water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids.

3. 9. Hotspots of biodiversity
Areas which exhibit high species richness as well as high species endemism are
termed as hot spots of biodiversity. The term was introduced by Myers (1988).
There are 25 such hot spots of biodiversity on a global level out of which two are
present in India, namely the Eastern Himalayan and Western Ghats.
10. Soil pollution
Is defined as the presence of toxic chemicals (pollutants or contaminants) in soil, in
high enough concentrations to pose a risk to human health and/or the ecosystem.
Industrial waste. deforestation excessive use of fertilizers pesticides and dumping of
various types of materials especially domestic and industrial wastes causes soil
pollution.
11. Heterotrophs
A heterotroph is an organism that cannot manufacture its own food by carbon
fixation and therefore derives its intake of nutrition from other sources of organic carbon,
mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are secondary and tertiary
consumers. Ex- birds, fish, and humans.
12. Sustainable development
The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable
development is important as it saves national budget, fulfills the need of people,
conserves natural resources, helps in the coordination between the natural
resources and people and conserves natural resources for future generation.
13. Endangered species
An endangered species is a species of wild animal or plant that is in danger of
extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Seven most endangered
species that you should see in India before they disappear: Greater One-Horned
Rhinoceros, Nilgiri Tahr, Bengal Tigers, Asiatic Lion, Black Buck, Lion Tailed Macaque,
and Snow Leopard.

4. 14. Endemic species
Endemic species are plants and animals that exist only in one geographic region
Some examples of endemic species are lemurs of Madagascar and the tortoises
of the Galápagos can be found only in that respective location. Kangaroos were
originally endemic to Australia and were found nowhere else in the world
15. Floods
Water in streams exceeds their capacity and overflows the banks and causes
inundation of the surrounding land this situation is called flood.It causes a great
economic loss and health related problems due to widespread contamination. In
India, Uttar Pradesh is considered to be amongst the worst flood hit states of the
country.
16. Aquifers
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or
unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater can be extracted using a
water well. The study of water flow in aquifers is called hydrogeology. Aquifers are
categorized as confined (Bore well) or unconfined (open well)
17. Dobson unit
A unit of measurement for the total amount of ozone in the atmosphere above a
point on the earth's surface, one Dobson unit being equivalent to a layer of pure
ozone 0.01 mm thick at standard temperature and pressure. Over the Earth's
surface, the ozone layer's average thickness is about 300 Dobson Units.

5. 18. Expand ELISA& AIDS
ELISA stands for Enzyme-linked Immune Sorbent Assay. It is a test that is used to
detect and measure antibodies in the blood sample of a person.
AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a spectrum of conditions caused
by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
19. Mid day Meal
The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India
designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. The
programme supplies free lunch on working days for children in primary and upper
primary classes in government, government aided schools
20. National parks and Sanctuaries
National park, an area set aside by a national government for the preservation of the
natural environment. ... Most of the landscapes and their accompanying plants and
animals in a national park are kept in their natural state e. g., Jim Corbett in
Uttrakhand, Gir in Gujarat, Shivpuri in Maharashtra, Simlipal in Orissa.
Sanctuary is an area which is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, Geo-
morphological, natural or zoological significance. The Sanctuary is declared for the
purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.
21. Expand IUCN and WWF
IUCN- International union for nature and natural resources
WWF- World wide fund for nature
22. What is an ESP?
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP)Is a physical process by which particles charged
electrically under the influence of Electrical field and separated from gas stream.
The dust gas enters near the bottom flows upwards the gas close to the negative
electrode ionized and migrates towards the ground surface where they are
collected. These having 99.9% efficiency.

6. 23. What do you mean by Environmental Biotechnology?
Is biotechnology that is applied to and used to study the
natural environment. Environmental biotechnology could also imply that one try to
harness biological process for commercial uses and exploitation. Can be used to
detect, prevent and remediate the emission of pollutants into the environment in a
number of ways.
24. Photochemical smog
Photochemical smog is a type of smog produced when ultraviolet light from the sun
reacts with nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. It is visible as a brown haze, and is
most prominent during the morning and afternoon, especially in densely populated,
warm cities. Photochemical smog's effect cause damage to the respiratory
system and environmental systems with the release of nitrogen oxide (NO), ozone
and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
25. Minnemata disease
Mercury was in the waste product dumped into Minamata Bay in Japan on a
massive scale by a chemical plant. The mercury contaminated fish living
in Minamata Bay. In all, 900 people died and 2,265 people were certified as having
directly suffered from mercury poisoning. Its major symptoms include sensory
disturbance, ataxia, concentric constriction of the visual field, and auditory disorders.
26. Epicenter
The epicenter is the point on the earth's surface vertically above the hypocenter (or
focus), point in the crust where a seismic rupture begins.
The epicenter is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or
focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates.

7. 27. Cyclones
These are reoccurring phenomena in the tropical coasted regions. Tropical cyclones in
the warm oceans are formed because of heat and moisture. Sea surface temperature
(SST) should be above 260C. They move with the speed of 10-30 km/hour. Tropical
cyclones are called
1. hurricanes – in the Atlantic, Caribbean, north eastern pacific
2. typhoons – western pacific
3. cyclones – Indian Ocean
4. Willy Willies – Sea around Australia
28. Ozone layer depletion
Ozone is a form of oxygen containing three oxygen atoms (O3). In the lower
mesosphere, atmospheric oxygen gets dissociate and combines with molecular oxygen
of upper stratosphere and producing ozone. Depletion is due to CFC’s from
refrigerators, air conditioners and spray cans released into atmosphere. Nitro oxide
emitted by supersonic aircrafts. By combination of fossil fuels and use of nitrogen
fertilization
29. Female foeticide
Female feticides is the process of finding out the sex of the foetus and undergoing
abortion if it is a girl. Although it is illegal, many people continue to practice it. Besides
this, there are some communities which practice female infanticide - the practice of
killing the girl child once she is born.
30. NRSA - National remote sensing Agency
GIS - Geographical Information System