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General Studies 2021 GS Paper I 15 marks 250 words Compulsory Explain

GS Paper I — Q15

How do the melting of the Arctic ice and glaciers of the Antarctic differently affect the weather patterns and human activities…

How do the melting of the Arctic ice and glaciers of the Antarctic differently affect the weather patterns and human activities on the Earth ? Explain. (Answer in 250 words) 15 marks

हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें

आर्कटिक की बर्फ और अंटार्कटिक के ग्लेशियरों का पिघलना किस तरह अलग-अलग ढंग से पृथ्वी पर मौसम के स्वरूप और मनुष्य की गतिविधियों पर प्रभाव डालते हैं ? स्पष्ट कीजिए । (250 शब्दों में उत्तर दीजिए)

Q15 of the 2021 UPSC Mains General Studies GS Paper I, as printed
The question as printed in the 2021 General Studies paper
Evaluate your answer to this question → See all 2021 General Studies questions

Model answer

Written by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 250-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key.

The Arctic and Antarctica melt differently because the Arctic is an ocean-ice system, while Antarctica is a land-ice system, producing distinct feedback loops, weather effects and human impacts.

Arctic: Sea-ice loss lowers albedo, accelerating Arctic amplification. This positive feedback makes the Arctic warm faster than the global mean. A warmer Arctic weakens and meanders the polar jet stream, allowing cold air to spill south and heat domes to persist, causing mid-latitude cold waves, heatwaves and erratic precipitation. These teleconnections can influence the Indian monsoon. Seasonally, a summer ice-free Arctic is projected within decades, opening the Northern Sea Route, encouraging resource extraction and affecting indigenous livelihoods; the 2021 Central Arctic Ocean moratorium, however, prevents unregulated commercial fishing in the high seas.

Antarctica: Glacier and ice-sheet melt, especially from unstable marine-terminating glaciers, threatens sea-level rise over multi-century ice-sheet dynamics. Freshwater input can weaken the AMOC and alter Southern Ocean overturning, while reduced sea-ice/ice-shelf extent weakens the Southern Ocean carbon sink. Meltwater input and regional warming shift pressure gradients, moving the Southern Hemisphere westerlies and storm tracks, modifying ITCZ and precipitation patterns, and altering extratropical cyclones and drought/rainfall anomalies. Direct human activity is limited, but global fisheries, research stations and tourism are affected by changing sea-ice, habitat and access. India’s deltaic and low-lying coasts face long-term vulnerability from Antarctic ice loss.

Thus, Arctic melting acts faster on weather and northern activities, while Antarctic ice loss is slower but larger for sea level and global circulation, making both polar regions critical to climate security.

What "Explain" is asking you to do

Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.

Structure that answers it

State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces

Where marks are lost

Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.

All UPSC directive words, compared →

How this answer will be evaluated

Approach

Framework: GS1 Geography: Physical-Human Linkage. explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Clearly distinguishes mechanisms (Jet Stream vs Ocean Currents) and specific human impacts (Trade vs Coastal Cities).

Key points expected

  • Arctic: Disruption of polar jet stream causing extreme weather
  • Arctic: Opening of Northern Sea Route affecting trade
  • Antarctic: Disruption of thermohaline circulation (AMOC)
  • Antarctic: Sea-level rise affecting coastal human settlements

Evaluation rubric

Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.

  1. The answer Differentiate the specific impacts of Arctic vs Antarctic ice melt on weather and human activity. 15 marks · 250 words

    explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close

    Must cover

    • Arctic: Disruption of polar jet stream causing extreme weather
    • Arctic: Opening of Northern Sea Route affecting trade
    • Antarctic: Disruption of thermohaline circulation (AMOC)
    • Antarctic: Sea-level rise affecting coastal human settlements

    Loses marks

    • Treating Arctic and Antarctic impacts as identical
    • Focusing only on global warming without specific regional effects
    • Narrating chronology of ice loss without explaining mechanisms

    Earns more

    • Mention of 'Albedo effect' as a feedback mechanism
    • Reference to 'Polar amplification' or 'Ice-albedo feedback'
    • Specific mention of 'Thermohaline circulation' or 'AMOC'
    • Linking Arctic melt to 'Wildfire' or 'Heatwave' events

    Extra mark

    • 30-second sketch map showing Jet Stream vs Ocean Currents
    • One robust statistic on sea-level rise or ice loss rate

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