Maharashtra HSC Env Ed & Water Security flashcards

34 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Ecosystem

A self-regulating unit of interacting living organisms and their non-living surroundings, through which energy flows one way and nutrients cycle repeatedly.

Ecological pyramid

A graphical representation of numbers, biomass or energy at successive trophic levels; the energy pyramid is always upright because energy is lost at each transfer.

Biodiversity hotspot

A region with at least 1500 endemic vascular plant species and at least 70 percent of its original primary vegetation lost; India contains four such hotspots.

IUCN Red List

A global inventory classifying species by extinction risk, from Extinct and Critically Endangered through Vulnerable to Least Concern and Data Deficient.

Renewable resource

A natural resource that regenerates naturally within a human timescale, such as solar energy, wind, or forests harvested below their regeneration rate.

In-situ conservation

Protecting species in their natural habitat through national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves, allowing natural ecological processes to continue.

Ex-situ conservation

Protecting species outside their natural habitat using zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks, gene banks and cryopreservation for backup and breeding.

Watershed

All the land area that drains rainfall and runoff to a common outlet, such as a stream, river or reservoir; watershed management works on this whole unit.

Biogas

A methane-rich gas produced by anaerobic digestion of cattle dung, crop residue or sewage, usable for cooking and lighting and leaving nutrient-rich slurry as fertiliser.

Primary air pollutant

A pollutant emitted directly from a source into the atmosphere, such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons or particulate matter.

Secondary air pollutant

A pollutant formed in the atmosphere by chemical reactions among primary pollutants, such as ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrate, and sulphuric or nitric acid.

BOD

Biochemical oxygen demand: the oxygen consumed by microorganisms to break down biodegradable organic matter in water, used as a measure of organic pollution.

Eutrophication

Nutrient enrichment of a water body, mainly by nitrogen and phosphorus, causing algal blooms, oxygen depletion, fish kills and degraded water quality.

Noise decibel

A logarithmic unit of sound intensity; an increase of 10 decibels corresponds to a tenfold increase in sound intensity, not a doubling.

Waste hierarchy

The preferred order of waste management: prevent, reuse, recycle, recover energy, and dispose as the last option.

Water security

Reliable access to adequate quantity and acceptable quality of water for health, livelihoods, ecosystems and production, with acceptable levels of risk.

Falkenmark index

A per-capita water availability measure: below 1700 cubic metres per person per year is water stress, below 1000 is scarcity, below 500 is absolute scarcity.

Virtual water

The volume of water used to produce a good or service, embedded in it; importing water-intensive crops effectively imports water.

Rainwater harvesting yield

Roof area in square metres multiplied by rainfall in millimetres multiplied by a runoff coefficient of about 0.8 to 0.9, giving harvestable litres.

Godavari river

Maharashtra's largest river system, draining roughly half the state, rising near Nashik and flowing east with tributaries like Purna, Wainganga and Wardha.

Koyna dam

A major dam on the Koyna river in Satara district, creating Shivsagar reservoir and associated with reservoir-triggered seismicity.

Jayakwadi dam

A major dam across the Godavari at Paithan in Marathwada, creating Nath Sagar reservoir and supplying irrigation and drinking water.

Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan

A Maharashtra watershed programme using desilting, check dams, farm ponds and recharge structures to make villages water-neutral and raise groundwater.

Deccan Trap aquifer

Basalt rock covering most of Maharashtra, storing groundwater in weathered layers and fractures; hard rock limits well yields and recharge rates.

Greenhouse effect

Warming of the lower atmosphere as gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide absorb outgoing infrared radiation and re-emit it towards the surface.

Global warming potential

The relative warming effect of a gas over a set period compared with carbon dioxide; methane is about 25 times and nitrous oxide about 298 times CO2.

Disaster risk formula

Risk equals hazard multiplied by vulnerability and exposure divided by capacity; reducing vulnerability or raising capacity lowers disaster risk.

Sendai Framework

A 2015 to 2030 global disaster risk reduction agreement with four priorities for action and seven global targets, guiding national disaster management plans.

Article 51A(g)

A fundamental duty of Indian citizens to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to show compassion for living creatures.

Environment Protection Act 1986

India's umbrella environmental law, enacted after the Bhopal gas disaster, empowering the central government to set standards and regulate pollution.

Polluter pays principle

The principle that the party causing pollution bears the cost of preventing, controlling and remediating the damage, including compensation to affected people.

Environmental clearance

Prior approval under the EIA Notification 2006 for listed projects, requiring an impact assessment, public consultation and expert appraisal before construction.

Chipko movement

A 1973 forest protection movement in Uttarakhand led by villagers, notably Sunderlal Bahuguna, who hugged trees to prevent felling.

DALY

Disability-adjusted life year: a measure of disease burden combining years of life lost to premature death and years lived with disability.