"टुन्ड्रा प्रदेश पारिस्थितिक दृष्टि से नाजुक लेकिन आर्थिक दृष्टि से महत्त्वपूर्ण हैं।" इस कथन का आलोचनात्मक परीक्षण कीजिए।
Read this question in English
“Tundra regions are ecologically fragile but economically important.” Examine this statement critically.
🧭 How to think about this question · directive: “critically examine”
Decode the demand
- Directive 'examine critically': test both halves of the statement with evidence, then give a verdict on whether the two halves can live together; a one-sided answer loses the 'critically'.
- The issue in one line: tundra is frozen, slow-healing and now warming fast, yet it holds gas, oil, minerals, a shipping route and Indigenous livelihoods.
- Three things to answer: why it is fragile, why it is economically important (India's stake included), and whether use and protection can be reconciled.
- The trap: listing resources and ecology separately and stopping; the marks lie in showing how extraction and fragility feed each other and in a clear position.
Think in a structure
- Open with the geographic definition (Köppen ET, permafrost, short season) and the paradox: the same cold that makes it fragile preserves what the world wants.
- One heading per half of the statement, each point an idea plus a reason, with the verified number (Arctic warming rate, Indigenous population) as the evidence; a hub diagram to show the economic stakes at a glance.
- A critical heading that weighs costs against gains and rejects both extremes: no free-for-all, no blanket ban.
- End positively with a way forward an administrator or policy-maker can act on, then anchor the conclusion in India's Arctic Policy and an SDG.
Facts checked at source (6)· open
- The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979 (Rantanen et al., 2022).Rantanen et al., 'The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979' — Communications Earth & Environment (Nature), 2022 ↗“The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979”
- India's Arctic Policy (2022) lays down six pillars, beginning with scientific research, climate and environmental protection, and economic and human development.Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh releases India's Arctic Policy — PIB, Ministry of Earth Sciences (17 March 2022) ↗“lays down six pillars: strengthening India's scientific research and cooperation, climate and environmental protection, economic and human development”
- India is one of thirteen observer nations in the Arctic Council.Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh releases India's Arctic Policy — PIB, Ministry of Earth Sciences (17 March 2022) ↗“It is one of thirteen nations holding Observer status in the Arctic Council”
- NCPOR, Goa, organises India's Arctic expeditions and manages the Himadri research station.Parliament question: Scientific studies carried out in Arctic region — PIB, Ministry of Earth Sciences ↗“manages the Indian Arctic Research Station Himadri”
- About 500,000 of the Arctic's 4 million inhabitants are Indigenous; six Indigenous Peoples' organisations are Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council.Permanent Participants — Arctic Council ↗“Out of a total of 4 million inhabitants of the Arctic, approximately 500,000 are Indigenous Peoples. Six Indigenous Peoples’ organizations have been granted Permanent Participants status in the Arctic Council.”
- IPCC's Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere (2019) finds permafrost temperatures have increased to record high levels since the 1980s.Summary for Policymakers — IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (2019) ↗“Permafrost temperatures have increased to record high levels”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2026, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Guidance: Minimalist IAS, checked 8 Nov 2026 (how we verify). ·
Model answer· 395words · Minimalist IAS
Tundra (Köppen ET) is the treeless polar belt on permafrost, where a short growing season supports only mosses, lichens and low flowering plants (NCERT). The cold that keeps it fragile also locks in resources the world wants, so the statement needs weighing on both sides.
Why tundra is ecologically fragile
- Permafrost dependence: plants and settlements rest on frozen ground; thaw turns firm land into thermokarst lakes and slumps.
- Slow recovery: thin, nutrient-poor soils and short food chains; a single spill or vehicle track scars the land for decades.
- Climate amplifier: the Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979 (Rantanen et al., 2022); thaw releases carbon dioxide and methane.
- IPCC SROCC (2019): permafrost temperatures have increased to record high levels since the 1980s.
- Fragile livelihoods: about 500,000 of the Arctic's 4 million people are Indigenous; herding and hunting need intact tundra.
Why tundra is economically important
Tundra's economic stakes: Yamal gas; North Slope oil; Nickel, rare earths; Northern Sea Route; Fisheries; Reindeer, tourism
- Energy and minerals: Yamal gas, Alaska's North Slope oil, Norilsk nickel and Greenland rare earths feed energy and green-technology supply chains.
- Shipping: a melting Arctic shortens the Asia–Europe voyage along the Northern Sea Route.
- Local economies: reindeer herding, fisheries and polar tourism sustain Arctic communities.
- India's stake: the Arctic Policy (2022) on six pillars; NCPOR runs the Himadri station; India is one of 13 Arctic Council observers.
Critical view: can use and protection coexist?
- Concentrated costs: spills and subsidence fall first on Indigenous lands, far from the firms that profit.
- Norilsk diesel spill (2020) fouled Arctic rivers near the nickel city.
- Self-defeating gains: the melt that opens routes also thaws the ground under pipelines, ports and homes, raising extraction's own cost.
- Beyond a blanket ban: Arctic peoples need livelihoods; the test is science-led safeguards with Indigenous consent through the Council's six Permanent Participants.
Way forward
- Build for thaw: permafrost mapping before construction; elevated pipelines and insulated foundations.
- Consent before contracts: Indigenous organisations at the table, as Permanent Participants are in the Arctic Council.
- Science before extraction: India's NCPOR expeditions from Himadri feed climate models; research is the first pillar of its Arctic Policy.
Tundra stays economically valuable only while it stays ecologically intact; science-led Arctic Council cooperation with Indigenous voice, which India's Arctic Policy endorses, is how the fragile and the profitable can travel together under SDG 13.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 8 Nov 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
