Environment and Sustainable Development for CUET Economics

AnswerB · the total planetary inheritance and all its resources

1. It covers all biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors that influence one another.

AnswerD · A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III

1. The environment does four jobs: it supplies resources, absorbs waste, sustains life and gives us scenery.

AnswerA · Coal

1. Coal took millions of years to form; once used, it is gone. Timber and fish regrow if harvested with care, and sunlight does not run out.

AnswerC · resource use stays within regrowth and absorptive capacity

1. This is the carrying capacity: use resources no faster than they regrow, and produce waste no faster than nature can absorb it.

AnswerB · absorb degradation and waste

1. Rivers, soil and air can break down a certain amount of waste. Beyond that limit, pollution builds up.

AnswerC · demand on it exceeds its carrying capacity

1. When resources are drawn down faster than they regrow, or waste piles up faster than it is absorbed, the environment can no longer support life well.

AnswerB · 20 thousand cubic metres

1. Felling 80 − regrowth 60 = 20 thousand cubic metres a year.

AnswerD · The year felling catches up with regrowth

1. At E, in year 6, felling = regrowth = 60. Beyond E, felling is more than the forest can replace.

AnswerA · Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

1. Cleaning up and treating the damage uses resources that could have gone elsewhere: that is an opportunity cost.

2. R explains A.

AnswerA · Only I

1. Over-fishing or over-felling can exhaust even renewable resources: I is true.

2. Non-renewables such as coal and oil take millions of years to form, so II is false.

AnswerA · Years 0 to 6

1. Up to year 6, felling (30 rising to 60) is at or below regrowth (60), so the forest stock does not shrink.

2. After year 6, felling exceeds regrowth and the forest is being used up.

AnswerD · A is false, but R is true.

1. Beyond its limit, sewage pollutes the river, so A is false.

2. R is true.

AnswerC · a slow rise in the earth's average temperature

1. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat, so the lower atmosphere warms.

AnswerD · chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons

1. CFCs from refrigerators, air conditioners and aerosol sprays, and halons from fire extinguishers, break down ozone in the stratosphere.

AnswerA · burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests

1. Burning coal, oil and gas releases carbon dioxide, and felling forests removes the trees that absorb it.

AnswerB · A rise in sea level from melting ice

1. Warming melts polar ice and glaciers, so sea levels rise and coasts flood; ecosystems are disturbed and tropical diseases spread.

AnswerA · lets more ultraviolet rays reach the earth

1. Ozone screens out ultraviolet rays; more UV causes skin cancer and harms plankton and crops.

AnswerD · A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II

1. Montreal deals with the ozone layer; Kyoto and Paris with greenhouse gases; the Brundtland Report gave the definition of sustainable development.

AnswerC · 97 ppm

1. 414 − 317 = 97 parts per million.

AnswerB · 31%

1. Rise = 414 − 317 = 97 ppm.

2. 97 ÷ 317 × 100 ≈ 31%.

AnswerA · Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

1. The Protocol targeted CFCs precisely because they destroy the ozone layer.

2. R explains A.

AnswerA · Only I

1. I is true.

2. Paris is 2015; 1997 is Kyoto. II is false.

AnswerB · It is rising faster each decade

1. Rise per decade: 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, 24 ppm, getting larger each time.

AnswerA · Only I

1. Burning fossil fuels has raised carbon dioxide steadily: I is true.

2. Ozone depletion is the thinning of the ozone layer by CFCs; global warming is heat trapped by greenhouse gases. II is false.

AnswerD · A is false, but R is true.

1. The ozone layer was the Montreal Protocol's subject, so A is false.

2. R is true.

AnswerC · Land degradation

1. The priority issues include land degradation, loss of biodiversity, air pollution, management of fresh water and solid waste.

AnswerC · Overgrazing and deforestation

1. Loss of vegetation, overgrazing, shifting cultivation, misuse of farm chemicals, poor irrigation practice and over-use of groundwater all degrade land.

AnswerB · vehicle exhaust

1. The rapid rise in the number of vehicles has made exhaust a leading source of urban air pollution, along with industry.

AnswerB · 1974

1. The CPCB was set up in 1974 to check pollution of water, and later of air, and to set standards for industry.

AnswerA · Only I

1. I is true: India's natural endowment is large.

2. Air and water pollution are serious problems in India, so II is false.

AnswerB · Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.

1. Both statements are true.

2. The date a regulator was set up does not explain why vehicles pollute, so R does not explain A.

AnswerA · Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

1. With few alternatives, people may over-graze, over-fell and over-farm, degrading the very resources they depend on.

2. R explains A.

AnswerD · meets present needs without harming future generations' ability to meet theirs

1. The World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) gave this definition in its 1987 report, Our Common Future.

AnswerA · Our Common Future

1. Our Common Future, 1987.

AnswerD · the rate of harvest must not exceed the rate of regeneration

1. If harvest equals regrowth, the stock stays the same and can be used forever.

AnswerC · Raising GDP as fast as possible whatever the cost

1. Daly's conditions: limit population to the carrying capacity; input-efficient technology; harvest renewables no faster than they regrow; deplete non-renewables no faster than substitutes appear; correct pollution.

AnswerA · Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

1. Because today's use limits tomorrow's options, development must leave enough for the future.

2. R explains A.

AnswerA · they are used no faster than renewable substitutes are created

1. Since non-renewables cannot regrow, their depletion should be matched by building renewable substitutes, such as solar power for coal.

AnswerD · A is false, but R is true.

1. It allows their use at a controlled pace, so A is false.

2. R is Daly's condition, and it is true.

AnswerB · Wind power

1. Wind and solar are non-conventional and clean; thermal power from coal pollutes the air.

AnswerB · replace firewood and dung cakes with a cleaner fuel

1. Cattle dung is turned into gas for cooking and light, cutting smoke indoors and the felling of trees for fuel; the slurry left over is a good manure.

AnswerA · lowered air pollution in the city

1. Compressed natural gas burns cleaner than diesel, so the switch reduced air pollution.

AnswerD · hill streams that serve nearby villages

1. Small turbines on hill streams generate enough power for local needs without large dams or displacement.

AnswerC · turning organic waste into manure with earthworms

1. Earthworms and microbes break down organic waste into compost, which replaces chemical fertiliser.

AnswerD · Using neem-based pesticides

1. Neem-based sprays, mixed cropping, and birds and animals that eat pests control them without poisoning the soil.

AnswerB · A-IV, B-III, C-II, D-I

1. Each example shows one strategy: clean power, cleaner fuel, traditional practice and organic manure.

AnswerC · the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand

1. Chipko began in the 1970s in the Himalayan hills now in Uttarakhand; a similar movement in Karnataka was called Appiko.

AnswerA · Only I

1. I is true: that is how solar panels work.

2. Thermal plants burn coal and release carbon dioxide and ash, so II is false.

AnswerA · Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

1. Practices that used local, renewable materials and did not harm the land are a guide to sustainable ways.

2. R explains A.

AnswerA · B, D, A, C

1. CPCB 1974, Brundtland Report 1987, Kyoto 1997, Paris 2015.

AnswerB · Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.

1. Both statements are true.

2. Where Chipko began has nothing to do with whether wind power is clean, so R does not explain A.

AnswerA · Only I

1. Cleaner fuels cut indoor air pollution: I is true.

2. Mini-hydel plants use small streams and need no large dams, so II is false.