How Important Is The Environment Exam Preparation?

The Union Public Service Commission is the Government of India’s central recruiting agency. Every year, lakhs of candidates appear in its preliminary and main exams that are held in June and October, respectively. Extreme hard work, dedication, perseverance, and sacrifice goes into the preparation for UPSC exams, which serves the purpose of selecting candidates to the various Civil Service posts in India.

While the UPSC syllabus covers a wide range of topics, higher importance is being placed on Environment, Ecology, and Biodiversity topic. Given the importance of environmental issues in the current times and the importance is understandable. What is challenging is the lack of holistic study material and the unpredictable nature of questions on this topic.

Reviewing The UPSC Environment Syllabus

In the Preliminary exams, the syllabus comprises Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change.

The Main Exams, Paper III, and General Studies III with 250 marks deal with Biodiversity, Environment, and other topics like Technology, Economic Development, Security, and Disaster Management.

It will not be a wise decision to skip the Environment topic when undergoing IAS coaching. The reasons are simple: 15 to 20 questions are asked every year in the IAS preliminary exams, and 25-35% of the questions in General Studies Paper 1 are asked from this topic.

Topics Of Utmost Importance In Environment Syllabus

This comprehensive list of topics mentioned below will give you an understanding of the Environment syllabus covers. All the topics are equally important and require extensive study.

Biodiversity
Encompasses Importance for human survival, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Biodiversity Hotspots, and the Red Data Book.

Environmental ecology
Encompasses terms such as ecosystems, ecotone, effects of environmental degradation, food chain, etc.

Sustainable Development
Covers renewable energy resources, bio-fertilizers, biomass gasification, pesticides, etc.

Pollution
Covers Acid rain, Greenhouse gases, Smog, algal bloom, the Ozone layer, and the Ozone hole.

Conservation
Covers topics like conservation of natural resources, wetlands, biosphere reserves, wildlife conservation, and national parks of India.

Climate Change
Montreal Protocol, Kyoto Protocol and all the recently held climate change summits and their objectives.

Ecologically Sensitive Areas
Covers the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.

Laws, Regulatory Bodies and Policies at the national and international level
Covers Environment Protection Act, Forest Right Act, National Biodiversity Authority, Nagoya Protocol, Cartagena Protocol, and Lima Conference.

All the important Organizations like UNEP, UNESCO, FAO, etc.

Intergovernmental Organizations, Treaties And Conventions Related To Climate Change, Biodiversity
Covers the Convention on Biological Diversity(CoB), Ramsar Convention, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification – from the 1992 Earth Summit, etc.

Carbon trading and leakage issues, the Kyoto mechanism, and emission trading.

Crucial tips for mastering the environment topic for UPSC

• Newspapers are a treasure trove of information. Reading the papers every single day with extra emphasis on the relevant subject will be very useful.
• Develop a conceptual knowledge base concerning all news articles related to the above-mentioned topics.
• Develop an in-depth reading attitude that will come up with valuable points to mention in the answer.
• Develop an interdisciplinary approach that includes Biology, Ecology, and Geography.
• Stay abreast of current affairs and noteworthy happenings of the past two decades.

Valuable Resources And Study Material For Environment Exam Preparation

All the NCERT Textbooks from Class IX to Class XII are immensely useful sources of information to prepare for the Environment and Ecology exam. Textbooks in Geography, Science, Chemistry, Biology, etc. are essential resources that have ample information in simple and lucid language flow.

Environment and Ecology BY P.D. Sharma, India Year Book, Yojana, and Kurukshetra Magazines and The Science Reporter are sources that cover all the topics over a period of time.

Environmental Ecology Biodiversity & Climate Change by Pratiyogita Darpan and The official website of the Environment Ministry of India are ample sources to look up to.

Strategic Plan To Tackle The UPSC

Clearing the UPSC with flying colours is a Herculean task, which is certainly not impossible when tackled with the right approach. Check Out – https://www.thebetterindia.com/187169/ias-upsc-topper-tips-interview-strategy-cse-mains-india/

• A strong basis must be laid with the help of NCERT books in Science and Geography.
• Selective and relevant reading must be followed to save time and resources.
• Other books for reference must be sourced to guide novices on terminology and complex concepts.
• Dedicated study hours with the habit of jotting down important points will be helpful.