Environment Questions & Answers for UPSC

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greeds,” – Mahatma Gandhiji. Environment has become one of the focal points in discussions and debate across the globe. The significance of ‘Environment’ as a UPSC topic is also relatively bigger as questions surrounding climate change, ecology, biodiversity are seeing an upward trend in the civil services exam question papers.

This segment covers all your queries w.r.t environment, ecology, biodiversity, climate change and more. Not only will you find answers to a wide range of questions; you would also be able to align your UPSC preparation with these questions.

Benefits of Environment Questions for IAS Exam

The IAS Exam aspirants can get the following benefits while going through the below-mentioned environment questions:

  • It fits all – Questions from a minor issue to an issue that has a global relevance are covered.
  • Doesn’t Discriminate – None of the doubts of the aspirants have been neglected. All doubts that are related to the UPSC examination or are related to the basic knowledge of environment have been answered by UPSC experts.
  • Helps in Prelims, Mains GS 3 and even essay papers – These answers would solve various doubts w.r.t environment-related topics. Hence, these will come handy in all stages of examination.
  • Apart from IAS Exam, these questions can be useful for other government exams as well.
The lion-tailed macaque, Macaca silenus (Linnaeus, 1758), is endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India namely Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil...
Acid rain is most prevalent where emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are high, especially in industrial countries, it can occur...
Sulphur dioxide accounts for most of the acid rain problems. (a) When sulphur dioxide dissolves in water, sulphurous acid is formed. SO2(g) +...
Acid rain is responsible for severe environmental destruction across the world and occurs most commonly in the North Eastern United States,...
Acid rain affects the freshwater ponds and lakes and destroys aquatic life, as some species of fishes are rare and may be extinct. It can damage...
Acid rain is linked to both natural and man-made sources.  When a thunderstorm produces lightning,  nitrogen oxides are formed through the...
Chemical gas emissions such as sulphur and nitrogen due to any human activities are the primary contributors to acid rain. Use of coal or...
The effects of acid rain are most clearly seen in- Aquatic environments, such as streams, lakes, and marshes where it can be harmful to fish...
Acid rain has been lethal for some species like the brook trout, eliminating it altogether in some streams and lakes that are geographically...
Acid rain is never acidic enough to burn human skin. However, very strong acids can, and will, burn your skin on contact, and can even destroy...
While acid rain does not have a direct effect on human health, the sulphur dioxide that creates it can cause health problems. Sulphur dioxide...
Five Stages of Ecological Succession are -  Nudation - the formation of a bare area or nudation by several reasons, such as volcanic eruption,...
The first stage of succession involves pioneer species.  In primary succession, pioneer plants are those that can grow without soil, such as...
The first stage of forest succession is the grass, or plant stage. It occurs after land has been cleared due to natural events or...
Secondary succession is more common and usually occurs faster than primary succession because the substrate is already present. Secondary...
An ecosystem is a system consisting of biotic and abiotic components that function together as a unit.  The biotic components include all the...
An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of...
An ecosystem is a large community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a particular area. Further Reading: Biodiversity...
Ernst Haeckel is believed to have coined the term ecology in 1869 though its first authentic use was made by Reiter in 1885. Further Readings - ...
Eugene Odum is acclaimed throughout science as the father of modern ecology. Further Readings -  Destruction of Ecosystem UN Decade on...