UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — DATA POINT

Q1. With reference to the influence of ocean–atmosphere climate modes on rainfall over Indonesia, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Because La Niña is the cool phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, it typically brings drought and higher fire emissions to Indonesia.
  2. El Niño typically causes a sharp fall in rainfall over Indonesia, and the fall is larger when a positive Indian Ocean Dipole occurs at the same time.
  3. Dry conditions behind a major Indonesian fire season have developed in a year when the El Niño–Southern Oscillation was in a neutral phase.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. A positive Indian Ocean Dipole event tends to reduce rainfall over Indonesia.
  2. During a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, relatively warm surface waters shift away from the coast of Sumatra towards East Africa, leaving the eastern Indian Ocean cooler than usual.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Fires on drained peatland are considerably harder to extinguish than fires confined to surface vegetation.
  2. Per hectare burnt, peatland fires can release up to ten times more carbon than typical forest fires.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. A tropical peat swamp forest is drained by a network of canals and cleared with fire to establish a plantation. Consider the following likely consequences: Which of the above are correct?

  1. The falling water table lets the upper peat layers dry out enough to catch fire.
  2. Fires on the drained land can keep burning beneath the surface after the vegetation above has burnt out.
  3. The drained land becomes less fire-prone in El Niño years because of the higher humidity those years bring to the region.
  4. Satellite counts may underestimate the fires on such land, because some burn underground or under very thick smoke.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 4 only

Q5. With reference to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. It is a treaty that has entered into force, not merely a declaration of political intent.
  2. It was negotiated in the aftermath of the 1997–98 smoke-haze crisis in Southeast Asia.
  3. It empowers its regional coordinating centre to penalise member states whose fires cause transboundary haze.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 only

Q6. Consider the following facts: (I) A severe transboundary haze episode in 2013 came from week-long fires in Central Sumatra, most of which burned on peat, in a year with neither El Niño nor a positive Indian Ocean Dipole. (II) In Borneo, fire emissions have been up to 30 times greater in El Niño years than in La Niña years. (III) Major haze events are expected to become more frequent as Indonesian peatlands continue to be deforested. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

  1. Ending El Niño-linked droughts would by itself end transboundary haze episodes in the region.
  2. Converting peatland can create enough fire risk to cause a haze episode even without a climate anomaly.
  3. Most of the carbon released by Indonesian fires over the past decade was emitted in non-drought years.
  4. How much fire activity occurs in Borneo depends strongly on which phase of ENSO prevails.
  • A. 3 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 4 only

Q7. Consider the following assertion: Smoke haze from land and forest fires in Indonesia is better addressed through a regional framework than through national action alone. Which of the following statements support/supports the above assertion?

  1. Smoke from these fires crosses borders and degrades air quality in neighbouring countries.
  2. Much of the cost of clearing land with fire, including damage to health, falls on people other than those who clear the land, some of them in other countries.
  3. Indonesia was among the founding members of a global initiative to protect and restore peatlands.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 only

Q8. A government has to choose between two land-restoration options over the next decade: (i) raising water levels again on drained, degraded peatland, and (ii) planting trees on an equal area of degraded mineral-soil land. Which of the following reasons best supports giving priority to option (i) for cutting net greenhouse-gas emissions?

  • A. Drained peat holds more carbon than intact peat, so rewetting locks this extra carbon safely in place
  • B. Drained peat keeps decomposing and releasing old stored carbon, so rewetting stops a large ongoing source
  • C. Rewetted peat takes up new carbon faster than young trees do, so it gives quicker fresh sequestration
  • D. Peatlands cover a larger share of the land surface than forests, so restoring them acts on a wider area