Fatima Jinnah Women University

Midterm Online Autumn 2020

Course title: Introduction to Environmental Sciences Instructor: Dr. Sana Zulfiqar
Department: Environmental Sciences Semester: BS-Env.Sci-1st
Name: Roll no:
Date: 13-11-2020 Time: 11:00-1:00

*All questions are compulsory to attempt.

Q1: What is Environmental Racism? Does it exist in Pakistan, if Yes, discuss it by giving
suitable examples. What are the mitigation measures to avoid it in our country? (7)

Q2: Conservation history has been divided into four stages. Which stage are you
supporting and why? Justify your support with suitable arguments. (7)

Q 3: Read the comprehension carefully and summarize it in your own words not more than
70 words. Give suitable title at the end. (6)
Climate change is one of the most obvious effects of these past developments: breaching the 2°C target is probably
the most tangible example of the risk of going beyond planetary boundaries. The long-term ambition of achieving 80
to 95% reductions in CO2 emissions by 2050 in Europe to stay in line with the above target, strongly argues for a
fundamental transformation of Europe’s current economy, with low-carbon energy and transport systems as central
planks of the new economy — but not the only ones.As in the past, future climate change impacts are expected to
affect disproportionately the most vulnerable in society: children, the elderly, and the poor. On the positive side,
greater access to green spaces, biodiversity, clean water and air benefit people’s health. However, this too raises the
question about the sharing of access and benefits, since often spatial planning and investment decisions favour the
rich at the expense of the poor.Well-maintained ecosystems and ecosystem services are essential to support climate
change mitigation and adaptation objectives, and preserving biodiversity is a prerequisite for ensuring this.
Balancing the role that ecosystems can play as a buffer against expected impacts with possible increased demands
for new settlements on water and land, brings new challenges, for example, to spatial planners, architects and
conservationists.The ongoing race for substitution from carbon-intensive to low-carbon energy and materials is
expected to further intensify demands on the terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems and services (first and
second generation biofuels provide an example here). As these demands increase, for example for chemical
substitutes, there are likely to be increasing conflicts with existing uses for food, transport and leisure. There are
also ancillary benefits from combined implementation of environmental legislation. For example, combining climate
change mitigation and air pollution abatement legislation could deliver benefits in the order of EUR 10 billion per
year through reductions in damage to public health and ecosystems ( A ) ( 11 ). Environmental producer
responsibility legislation (such as REACH( 12 ), WEEE Directive ( 13 ), RoHs Directive ( 14 )) has contributed to
push multi-national companies, for example, to design production processes at global level that meet EU standards
and so deliver benefits for consumers across the world. In addition, EU legislation is often replicated in China, India,
California and elsewhere, highlighting further the multiple benefits of well-designed policies in the globalized
economy.