Acid rain

Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated
levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure. Acid
rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in
the atmosphere to produce acids. Governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of
sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere with positive results. Nitrogen oxides can also be produced naturally
by lightning strikes and sulfur dioxide is produced by volcanic eruptions. The chemicals in acid rain can cause
paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and erosion of stone statues.

Emissions of chemicals leading to acidification

Acid deposition
Wet deposition
Wet deposition of acids occurs when any form of precipitation (rain, snow, and so on.) removes acids from the
atmosphere and delivers it to the Earth's surface. This can result from the deposition of acids produced in the
raindrops (see aqueous phase chemistry above) or by the precipitation removing the acids either in clouds or
below clouds. Wet removal of both gases and aerosols are both of importance for wet deposition.

Dry deposition
Acid deposition also occurs via dry deposition in the absence of precipitation. This can be responsible for as
much as 20 to 60% of total acid deposition.[27] This occurs when particles and gases stick to the ground, plants
or other surfaces.

Adverse effects
Surface waters and aquatic animals
Soils
Forests and other vegetation
Adverse effects may be indirectly related to acid rain, like the acid's effects on soil (see above) or high
concentration of gaseous precursors to acid rain. High altitude forests are especially vulnerable as they are
often surrounded by clouds and fog which are more acidic than rain.

Other plants can also be damaged by acid rain, but the effect on food crops is minimized by the application of
lime and fertilizers to replace lost nutrients. In cultivated areas, limestone may also be added to increase the
ability of the soil to keep the pH stable, but this tactic is largely unusable in the case of wilderness lands. When
calcium is leached from the needles of red spruce, these trees become less cold tolerant and exhibit winter
injury and even death

Ocean acidification
Addiction
Addiction is a state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse
consequences.[7] It can be thought of as a disease or biological process leading to such behaviors. [1][8] The two
properties that characterize all addictive stimuli are that they are (positively) reinforcing (i.e., they increase the
likelihood that a person will seek repeated exposure to them) and intrinsically rewarding (i.e., they activate the
brain's "reward pathways", and are therefore perceived as being something positive or desirable). [1][3][6] ΔFosB,
a gene transcription factor, is now known to be a critical component and common factor in the development of
virtually all forms of behavioral and drug addictions.[9][10][11]

Addiction exacts a high toll on individuals and society as a whole through the direct adverse effects of drugs
and associated healthcare costs, the functional consequences of altered neuroplasticity in the brain, and the
loss of productivity.[12] Classic hallmarks of addiction include impaired control over substances or behavior,
preoccupation with substance or behavior, continued use despite consequences, and denial. [13] Habits and
patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short-term reward),
coupled with delayed deleterious effects (long-term costs).[14]

Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of
non-human animals in experiments (although some research about animals involves only natural behaviors or
pure observation, such as a mouse running a maze or field studies of chimp troops). The research is conducted
inside universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, farms, defense establishments, and
commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to industry. [1] It includes pure research (such
as genetics, developmental biology, and behavioral studies) as well as applied research (such as biomedical
research, xenotransplantation, drug testing, and toxicology tests, including cosmetics testing). Animals are also
used for education, breeding, and defense research. The practice is regulated to various degrees in different
countries.

Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—
ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million used annually. [2] Invertebrates, mice, rats, birds, fish,
frogs, and animals not yet weaned are not included in the figures in the United States; one estimate of mice
and rats used in the US alone in 2001 was 80 million. [3][4] Most animals are euthanized after being used in an
experiment.[5] Sources of laboratory animals vary between countries and species; most animals are purpose-
bred, while a minority are caught in the wild or supplied by dealers who obtain them from auctions and pounds
Art
Art is a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities, usually involving imaginative or
technical skill. In their most general form these activities include the production of works of art, the criticism of
art, the study of the history of art, and the aesthetic dissemination of art. This article focuses primarily on
the visual arts, which includes the creation of images or objects in fields including painting,
sculpture, printmaking, photography, and other visual media. Architecture is often included as one of the visual
arts; however, like the decorative arts, it involves the creation of objects where the practical considerations of
use are essential—in a way that they usually are not in a painting, for example. Music, theatre, film, dance, and
other performing arts, as well as literature and other media such as interactive media, are included in a broader
definition of art or the arts.[1] Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated
from crafts or sciences. In modern usage after the 17th century, where aesthetic considerations are paramount,
the fine arts are separated and distinguished from acquired skills in general, such as the decorative or applied
arts.

Astrology
Astrology consists of several pseudoscientific systems of divination[1] based on the premise that there is a
relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. Many cultures have attached
importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, andMayans developed elaborate systems for
predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. In the West, astrology most often consists of a system
of horoscopes purporting to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict future events in their life
based on the positions of the sun, moon, and other celestial objects at the time of their birth. The majority of
professional astrologers rely on such systems. [2]:83

Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition. It was accepted in political and
academic contexts, and was connected with other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and
medicine.[3] At the end of the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy and physics (such
as heliocentrism and Newtonian mechanics) called astrology into question. Astrology thus lost its academic and
theoretical standing, and common belief in astrology has largely declined. [4] Astrology has been rejected by the
scientific community as a pseudoscience, having no validity or explanatory power for describing the universe.
Among other issues, there is no proposed mechanism of action by which the positions and motions of stars and
planets could affect people and events on Earth that does not contradict well understood basic aspects of
biology and physics.[5]:249[6] Scientific testing of astrology has found no evidence to support any of the premises or
purported effects outlined in astrological traditions. In one study, participating astrologers attempting to match
natal charts with profiles generated by a psychological inventory produced results not significantly at variance
with random chance.
Bribery
Bribery is an act of giving money or gifts that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime
and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to
influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.

Gifts of money or other items of value which are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and
not for dishonest purposes, is not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers, is a legal rebate,
and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric
rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost for electricity, when the rebate is
available to other residential electric customers. If the rebate was done to influence them to look favorably on
the electric utility's rate increase applications, however, that would be bribery, and unlawful.

The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be money, goods, rights in
action, property, preferment, privilege,emolument, objects of value, advantage, or merely a promise to induce
or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity. [1]

In economics, the bribe has been described as rent. Bribery in bureaucracy has been viewed as a reason for
the higher cost of production of goods and services.

Charity
What is Charity? Benefits and Types of Charity

What is Charity/Donation: To give happiness to

other living beings, humans or animals. When you give
happiness to others, you will get happiness in
return. Despite of giving away your own belongings, you feel
good because you have done something good.

When would one experience unending happiness? It

will happen when you let go of the one thing in this
world, which you love the most. In worldly matters,
what is that? Money. People have excessive affection for money. Just let it go and let it flow. Only
then will you find that the more you let go of it, the more it will come to you.

Dadashri has given extensive information about giving charity/donation, and other questions such
as What is charity?, What are benefits of charity?, What are types of charity?, Where (To
Whom) should Charity be given?, How to donate?, What is anonymous charity /
donations?... and much more... reader will surely find this invaluable and insightful.

Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are
inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.
Cultural heritage includes tangible culture(such as buildings, monuments, landscapes, books, works of art, and
artifacts), intangible culture (such as folklore, traditions, language, and knowledge), and natural heritage
(including culturally significant landscapes, and biodiversity).

The deliberate act of keeping cultural heritage from the present for the future is known
as preservation (American English) orconservation (British English), though these terms may have more
specific or technical meaning in the same contexts in the other dialect.

Cultural heritage is unique, irreplaceable and beautiful which places the responsibility of preservation and
conserving on the current generation. Smaller objects such as artworks and other cultural masterpieces
are collected in museums and art galleries. Grass rootsorganizations and political groups, such as the
international body UNESCO, have been successful at gaining the necessary support to preserve the heritage
of many nations for the future generations to cherish

Doping
In competitive sports, doping refers to the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic
competitors, where the term dopingis widely used by organizations that regulate sporting competitions. The use
of drugs to enhance performance is considered unethical by most international sports organizations, including
the International Olympic Committee, although ethicists[who?] have argued that it is not different from the use of
new materials in the construction of suits and sporting equipment, which can also aid performance and give
competitors an unfair advantage.[citation needed]

Historically speaking, the origins of doping in sports go back to the very creation of sport itself. From ancient
usage of substances in chariot racing to more recent controversies in baseball and cycling, popular views
among athletes have varied widely from country to country over the years. The general trend among authorities
and sporting organizations over the past several decades has been to strictly regulate the use of drugs in sport.
The reasons for the ban are mainly the health risks of performance-enhancing drugs, the equality of opportunity
for athletes, and the exemplary effect of drug-free sport for the public. Anti-doping authorities state that using
performance-enhancing drugs goes against the "spirit of sport".

Fame
Celebrity is fame and public attention in the media, usually applied to a person, or group of people (celebrity
couple, family etc.), or occasionally, to animals or fictional entities. Celebrity status is often associated with
wealth (commonly referred to as fame and fortune) and fame can often provide opportunities to make money.

Successful careers in sports and entertainment are commonly associated with celebrity status. [1][2] People may
also become celebrities due to media attention for their lifestyle, wealth, or actions, or for their connection to a
famous person.

Genetically modified food

Genetically modified foods (or GM foods) are foods produced from organisms that have had specific
changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. These techniques have allowed
for the introduction of new traits as well as a far greater control over a food's genetic structure than previously
afforded by methods such as selective breeding andmutation breeding.[1]

Commercial sale of genetically modified crops began in 1994, when Calgene first marketed its Flavr
Savr delayed ripening tomato.[2] To date, most genetic modification of foods have primarily focused on cash
crops in high demand by farmers such as soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil. These have been
engineered for resistance to pathogens and herbicides and better nutrient profiles. GM livestock have also
been experimentally developed, although as of November 2013 none are on the market. [3]

There is broad scientific consensus that food on the market derived from GM crops poses no greater risk to
human health than conventional food.[4][5][6][7][8][9] However, opponents have objected to GM foods on several
grounds, including safety issues, environmental concerns, and economic concerns raised by the fact that GM
seeds (and potentially animals) that are food sources are subject to intellectual property rights owned by
corporations.

High-rise buildings
High-rise buildings became possible with the invention of the elevator (lift) and cheaper, more abundant
building materials. The materials used for thestructural system of high-rise buildings are reinforced
concrete and steel. Most North American style skyscrapers have a steel frame, while residential blocks are
usually constructed of concrete. There is no clear difference between a tower block and a skyscraper, although
a building with fifty or more stories is generally considered a skyscraper. [3]

High-rise structures pose particular design challenges for structural and geotechnical engineers, particularly if
situated in a seismically active region or if the underlying soils have geotechnical risk factors such as high
compressibility or bay mud. They also pose serious challenges to firefighters during emergencies in high-rise
structures. New and old building design, building systems like the building standpipe system, HVAC systems
(heating, ventilation and air conditioning), fire sprinkler system and other things like stairwell
and elevator evacuations pose significant problems. Studies are often required to ensure that pedestrian wind
comfort and wind danger concerns are addressed. In order to allow less wind exposure, to transmit more
daylight to the ground and to appear more slender, many high-rises have a design with setbacks.
Apartment buildings have technical and economic advantages in areas of high population density, and have
become a distinctive feature of housing accommodation in virtually all densely populated urban areas around
the world. In contrast with low-rise and single-family houses, apartment blocks accommodate more inhabitants
per unit of area of land and decrease the cost of municipal infrastructure.

Homeschooling
Homeschooling, also known as home education, is the education of children inside the home, as opposed to
in the formal settings of a public or private school. Home education is usually conducted by a parent or tutor.
Despite the name, only a portion of home education may be delivered in the family home, with the rest provided
within the local community or elsewhere. Many families that start out with a formal school structure at home
often switch to less formal and, in their view, more effective ways of imparting education outside of school, and
many prefer the term "home education" to the more prevalently used "homeschooling". [1] "Homeschooling" is
the term commonly used in North America, whereas "home education" is more commonly used in the United
Kingdom,[2] elsewhere in Europe, and in many Commonwealth countries.

Prior to the introduction of compulsory school attendance laws, most childhood education was imparted by the
family or community.[3] However, indeveloped countries, homeschooling in the modern sense is an alternative to
attending public or private schools, and is a legal option for parents in many countries.

Parents cite two main motivations for homeschooling their children: dissatisfaction with the local schools and
the interest in increased involvement with (and greater control over) their children's learning and development.
Parents' dissatisfaction with available schools includes concerns about the school environment, the quality of
academic instruction, the curriculum, and bullying as well as lack of faith in the school's ability to cater to their
child'sspecial needs. Some parents homeschool in order to have greater control over what and how their
children are taught, to better cater for children's individual aptitudes and abilities adequately, to provide a
specific religious or moral instruction, and to take advantage of the efficiency of one-to-one instruction, which
allows the child to spend more time on childhood activities, socializing, and non-academic learning. Many
parents are also influenced by alternative educational philosophies espoused by the likes of Susan Sutherland
Isaacs, Charlotte Mason, John Holt, and Sir Kenneth Robinson, among others.

Homelessness
Homelessness is the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are most often
unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and
adequate night-time residence."[1] The legal definition of homeless varies from country to country, or among
different jurisdictions in the same country or region.[dubious – discuss][2] The termhomeless may also include people
whose primary night-time residence is in a homeless shelter, a warming center, a domestic violence shelter, a
vehicle (including recreational vehicles and campers), squatting, cardboard boxes, a tent, tarpaulins, or
other ad hoc housing situations. American government homeless enumeration studies [3][4] also include persons
who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human
beings.[5][6] There are a number of organizations who provide provisions for the homeless for example, The
Salvation Army.

An estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless in 2005. [7] In western countries, the large majority of
homeless are men (75–80%), with single males particularly overrepresented. [8][9][10]

Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people. They often provide food, shelter and
clothing and may be organized and run by community organizations (often with the help of volunteers) or by
government departments. These programs may be supported by government, charities, churches and
individual donors. Many cities also have street newspapers, which are publications designed to provide
employment opportunity to homeless people. While some homeless have jobs, some must seek other methods
to make a living. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many citie

Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency, also known as "juvenile offending", is participation in illegal behavior
by minors (juveniles, i.e. individuals younger than the statutory age of majority).[1] Most legal systems prescribe
specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers, and courts. A juvenile
delinquent in the United States is a person who is typically under the age of 17 and commits an act that
otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Depending on the type and severity of the
offense committed, it is possible for persons under 18 to be charged and tried as adults.

In recent years a higher proportion of youth have experienced arrests by their early 20s than in the past,
although some scholars have concluded this may reflect more aggressive criminal justice and zero-tolerance
policies rather than changes in youth behavior. [2] Juvenile crimes can range from status offenses (such
as underage smoking), to property crimes and violent crimes. Youth violence rates in the United States have
dropped to approximately 12% of peak rates in 1993 according to official US government statistics, suggesting
that most juvenile offending is non-violent.[3] However, juvenile offending can be considered normative
adolescent behavior.[4] This is because most teens tend to offend by committing non-violent crimes, only once
or a few times, and only during adolescence. Repeated and/or violent offending is likely to lead to later and
more violent offenses. When this happens, the offender often displayed antisocial behavior even before
reaching adolescence

Modernity
Modernity is a term of art used in the humanities and social sciences to designate both a historical period
(the modern era), as well as the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose
in post-medieval Europe and have developed since, in various ways and at various times, around the world.
While it includes a wide range of interrelated historical processes and cultural phenomena
(fromfashion to modern warfare), it can also refer to the subjective or existential experience of the conditions
they produce, and their ongoing impact on human culture, institutions, and politics (Berman 2010, 15–36).

As a historical category, modernity refers to a period marked by a questioning or rejection of tradition; the
prioritization of individualism, freedomand formal equality; faith in inevitable social, scientific and
technological progress and human perfectibility; rationalization andprofessionalization; a movement
from feudalism (or agrarianism) toward capitalism and the market
economy; industrialization, urbanization andsecularization; the development of the nation-state and its
constituent institutions (e.g. representative democracy, public education, modernbureaucracy) and forms
of surveillance (Foucault 1995, 170–77). Some writers have suggested there is more than one possible
modernity, given the unsettled nature of the term and of history itself.

Poverty
Poverty is general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or
money.[1] It is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic political elements. Poverty seems to
be chronic or temporary, and most of the time it is closely related to inequality. As a dynamic concept, poverty
is changing and adapting according to consumption patterns, social dynamics and technological change.
[2]
Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes
food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter and health care. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic
inequality in the location or society in which people live.[3][4]

After the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made production goods increasingly less expensive
and more accessible. Of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, to provide
enough yield to feed the population.[5] Responding to basic needs can be restricted by constraints on
government's ability to deliver services, such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditionalities and
by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Strategies of increasing income to make basic
needs more affordable typically include welfare,economic freedoms and providing financial services.

Satellite
The world's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Since then,
thousands of satellites have been launched into orbit around the Earth. Some satellites, notably space stations,
have been launched in parts and assembled in orbit. Artificial satellites originate from more than 40 countries
and have used the satellite launching capabilities of ten nations. A few hundred satellites are currently
operational, whereas thousands of unused satellites and satellite fragments orbit the Earth as space debris. A
few space probes have been placed into orbit around other bodies and become artificial satellites to the
Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Vesta, Eros,Ceres,[1] and the Sun.

Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include military and civilian Earth
observation satellites, communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather satellites, and research
satellites. Space stations and human spacecraft in orbit are also satellites. Satellite orbits vary greatly,
depending on the purpose of the satellite, and are classified in a number of ways. Well-known (overlapping)
classes include low Earth orbit, polar orbit, and geostationary orbit.

Space exploration
Space exploration is the ongoing discovery and exploration of celestial structures in outer space by means of
continuously evolving and growingspace technology. While the study of space is carried out mainly
by astronomers with telescopes, the physical exploration of space is conducted both by unmanned robotic
probes and human spaceflight.

While the observation of objects in space, known as astronomy, predates reliable recorded history, it was the
development of large and relatively efficient rockets during the early 20th century that allowed physical space
exploration to become a reality. Common rationales for exploring space include advancing scientific research,
uniting different nations, ensuring the future survival of humanity and developing military and strategic
advantages against other countries.

Space exploration has often been used as a proxy competition for geopolitical rivalries such as the Cold War.
The early era of space exploration was driven by a "Space Race" between the Soviet Union and the United
States. The launch of the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, the USSR'sSputnik 1, on 4 October 1957,
and the first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11 craft on 20 July 1969 are often taken as landmarks for
this initial period. The Soviet space program achieved many of the first milestones, including the first living
being in orbit in 1957, the first human spaceflight(Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1) in 1961, the
first spacewalk (by Aleksei Leonov) on 18 March 1965, the first automatic landing on another celestial body in
1966, and the launch of the first space station (Salyut 1) in 1971.

Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl describes the expansion of human populations away from central urban
areas into previously remote and rural areas, often resulting in communities reliant upon
heavy automobile usage. Urban sprawl is a multifaceted concept of community planning especially relevant
to developed nations (and primarily the United States, Canada, and Australia), involving topics that range from
the outward spreading of acity and its suburbs to exurbs, to low-density and often auto-dependent
development on rural land. The term also involves examination of impact of high segregation between
residential and commercial uses, and analysis of various design features to determine which may
encourage car dependency.[2]

The term "sprawl" is most often associated with land use in the English-speaking world; in Continental
Europe the term "peri-urbanisation" is often used to denote similar dynamics and phenomena.[citation needed] Urban
sprawl has over the last couple of decades become the subject of analysis about how to manage urban growth.
[3]

Discussions and debates about sprawl are often made unclear by the uncertainty of the meaning associated
with the phrase. For example, some commentators measure sprawl only with the average number of residential
units per acre in a given area. But others associate it with decentralization(spread of population without a well-
defined centre), discontinuity (leapfrog development, as defined below), segregation of uses, and so forth.

The term urban sprawl generally has negative connotations due to the health, environmental and cultural
issues associated with the phrase.[4]Residents of sprawling neighborhoods tend to emit more pollution per
person and suffer more traffic fatalities.[5][6] Sprawl is controversial, with supporters[clarification needed] claiming that
consumers prefer lower density neighborhoods and that sprawl does not necessarily increase traffic. [7]Others
have argued that sprawl is less a reflection of consumer preferences and more a result of legal structures and
court decisions that have encouraged sprawl development. [8]