Environment and Ecology for CSE

General relevance of the subject

Environment and Ecology is yet to get established as a core academic topic in India. It is generally taught as a subject supplementary to other core subjects like Geography. But it has become a topic that touches our daily lives. A greater proportion of issues that find reference in the different media platforms are related to environment. They include regional issues like the Chennai floods or global events like the Paris Climate Summit.

Environment and Ecology for Civil Services Examination

This subject forms a major part of the Civil Services Examination (CSE), both for the preliminary level and the Mains level. From the analysis of previous years questions papers, around 15-20 questions (out of a total of 100) have been asked in the CSE prelims. Moreover this topic is a major part of the General Studies Paper III (GS Paper III) of the Main Examination. Hence, taking into consideration, the influence of Environment & Ecology in day-to-day issues, UPSC has accorded considerable importance to it in the Civil Services Examination.

Understanding the subject

After being acquainted with the relevance of the subject, both in general and specific to the CSE, let us now understand how to learn the subject.

How to study?

The subject can be divided into two major parts –

I) The Science part and 

II) The Human part
While the Science part deals with the scientific aspects related to a given environmental or ecological phenomena, the Human part deals with their implications on man.
Let us discuss the case of global warming as an example. The Science part would deal with the causes of global warming i.e. the Green House Effect, while the Human part deal with the consequences of global warming, like the sea-level rise, submergence of land bodies, natural disasters or even the recently concluded Paris Climate Summit. With respect to the learning process, the Science part is static while the Human part is highly dynamic.

What to study?

A good reading of the syllabus would give a better idea about what all to study for the topic. Here is the syllabus for the subject.

Preliminary Examination:

·         General issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity and climate-change that does not require subject specialisation.

Main Examination:

·         Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation

·         Environmental Impact Assessment

·         Disaster and Disaster management

Though the syllabus for Prelims and Mains look different, there have been overlaps in the previous years. Hence, it is better to study these topics together. The following are the most important topics for the CSE from Environment and Ecology.

·         Ecology (specifically for Prelims)

·         Biodiversity and its conservation

·         Global warming and climate change

·         Pollution and environmental degradation

Where to study from?

Environment and Ecology is an evolving topic and hence no book covers the complete topic. The important sources are

·         NCERT Books: Final units of Biology Class XII, Physical Geography Class XI

·         Study Material from IGNOU and NIOS.

·         Current journals including news-papers and magazines.

The NCERT books are ideal for beginners. They give a good idea about the Science part of the subject. The IGNOU and NIOS material are for advanced reading. Besides, the aspirants need to have good grip over the current aspects with respect to the subject. This is extremely important for the Mains Examination.